Monday of the Second Week in Ordinary
Time
Lectionary: 311
Lectionary: 311
Samuel said to Saul:
“Stop! Let me tell you what the LORD said to me last night.”
Saul replied, “Speak!”
Samuel then said: “Though little in your own esteem,
are you not leader of the tribes of Israel?
The LORD anointed you king of Israel and sent you on a mission, saying,
‘Go and put the sinful Amalekites under a ban of destruction.
Fight against them until you have exterminated them.’
Why then have you disobeyed the LORD?
You have pounced on the spoil, thus displeasing the LORD.”
Saul answered Samuel: “I did indeed obey the LORD
and fulfill the mission on which the LORD sent me.
I have brought back Agag, and I have destroyed Amalek under the ban.
But from the spoil the men took sheep and oxen,
the best of what had been banned,
to sacrifice to the LORD their God in Gilgal.”
But Samuel said:
“Does the LORD so delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices
as in obedience to the command of the LORD?
Obedience is better than sacrifice,
and submission than the fat of rams.
For a sin like divination is rebellion,
and presumption is the crime of idolatry.
Because you have rejected the command of the LORD,
he, too, has rejected you as ruler.”
“Stop! Let me tell you what the LORD said to me last night.”
Saul replied, “Speak!”
Samuel then said: “Though little in your own esteem,
are you not leader of the tribes of Israel?
The LORD anointed you king of Israel and sent you on a mission, saying,
‘Go and put the sinful Amalekites under a ban of destruction.
Fight against them until you have exterminated them.’
Why then have you disobeyed the LORD?
You have pounced on the spoil, thus displeasing the LORD.”
Saul answered Samuel: “I did indeed obey the LORD
and fulfill the mission on which the LORD sent me.
I have brought back Agag, and I have destroyed Amalek under the ban.
But from the spoil the men took sheep and oxen,
the best of what had been banned,
to sacrifice to the LORD their God in Gilgal.”
But Samuel said:
“Does the LORD so delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices
as in obedience to the command of the LORD?
Obedience is better than sacrifice,
and submission than the fat of rams.
For a sin like divination is rebellion,
and presumption is the crime of idolatry.
Because you have rejected the command of the LORD,
he, too, has rejected you as ruler.”
Responsorial
Psalm50:8-9, 16BC-17, 21 AND 23
R. (23b) To the upright I will
show the saving power of God.
“Not for your sacrifices do I rebuke you,
for your burnt offerings are before me always.
I take from your house no bullock,
no goats out of your fold.”
R. To the upright I will show the saving power of God.
“Why do you recite my statutes,
and profess my covenant with your mouth,
Though you hate discipline
and cast my words behind you?”
R. To the upright I will show the saving power of God.
“When you do these things, shall I be deaf to it?
Or do you think that I am like yourself?
I will correct you by drawing them up before your eyes.
He that offers praise as a sacrifice glorifies me;
and to him that goes the right way I will show the salvation of God.”
R. To the upright I will show the saving power of God.
“Not for your sacrifices do I rebuke you,
for your burnt offerings are before me always.
I take from your house no bullock,
no goats out of your fold.”
R. To the upright I will show the saving power of God.
“Why do you recite my statutes,
and profess my covenant with your mouth,
Though you hate discipline
and cast my words behind you?”
R. To the upright I will show the saving power of God.
“When you do these things, shall I be deaf to it?
Or do you think that I am like yourself?
I will correct you by drawing them up before your eyes.
He that offers praise as a sacrifice glorifies me;
and to him that goes the right way I will show the salvation of God.”
R. To the upright I will show the saving power of God.
AlleluiaHB 4:12
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
The word of God is living and effective,
able to discern reflections and thoughts of the heart.
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
The word of God is living and effective,
able to discern reflections and thoughts of the heart.
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
GospelMK 2:18-22
The disciples of John and of the
Pharisees were accustomed to fast.
People came to Jesus and objected,
“Why do the disciples of John and the disciples of the Pharisees fast,
but your disciples do not fast?”
Jesus answered them,
“Can the wedding guests fast while the bridegroom is with them?
As long as they have the bridegroom with them they cannot fast.
But the days will come when the bridegroom is taken away from them,
and then they will fast on that day.
No one sews a piece of unshrunken cloth on an old cloak.
If he does, its fullness pulls away,
the new from the old, and the tear gets worse.
Likewise, no one pours new wine into old wineskins.
Otherwise, the wine will burst the skins,
and both the wine and the skins are ruined.
Rather, new wine is poured into fresh wineskins.”
People came to Jesus and objected,
“Why do the disciples of John and the disciples of the Pharisees fast,
but your disciples do not fast?”
Jesus answered them,
“Can the wedding guests fast while the bridegroom is with them?
As long as they have the bridegroom with them they cannot fast.
But the days will come when the bridegroom is taken away from them,
and then they will fast on that day.
No one sews a piece of unshrunken cloth on an old cloak.
If he does, its fullness pulls away,
the new from the old, and the tear gets worse.
Likewise, no one pours new wine into old wineskins.
Otherwise, the wine will burst the skins,
and both the wine and the skins are ruined.
Rather, new wine is poured into fresh wineskins.”
For the
readings of the Optional Memorial of Saint Fabian, please go here.
For the
readings of the Optional Memorial of Saint Sebastian, please go here.
Meditation: "Fasting
or feasting?"
Which
comes first, fasting or feasting? The disciples of John the Baptist were upset
with Jesus' disciples because they did not fast (Mark 2:18). Fasting was one of
the three most important religious duties, along with prayer and almsgiving.
Jesus gave a simple explanation. There's a time for fasting and a time for
feasting (or celebrating). To walk as a disciple with Jesus is to experience a
whole new joy of relationship akin to the joy of the wedding party in
celebrating with the groom and bride their wedding bliss. But there also comes
a time when the Lord's disciples must bear the cross of affliction and
purification. For the disciple there is both a time for rejoicing in the Lord's
presence and celebrating his goodness and a time for seeking the Lord with
humility and fasting and for mourning over sin. Do you take joy in the Lord's
presence with you and do you express sorrow and contrition for your sins?
The
closed mind that rejects all of God's Word
Jesus goes on to warn his disciples about the problem of the "closed mind" that refuses to learn new things. Jesus used an image familiar to his audience - new and old wine skins. In Jesus' time, wine was stored in wine skins, not bottles. New wine poured into skins was still fermenting. The gases exerted gave pressure. New wine skins were elastic enough to take the pressure, but old wine skins easily burst because they were hard. What did Jesus mean by this comparison? Are we to reject the old in place of the new? Just as there is a right place and a right time for fasting and for feasting, so there is a right place for the old as well as the new.
Jesus goes on to warn his disciples about the problem of the "closed mind" that refuses to learn new things. Jesus used an image familiar to his audience - new and old wine skins. In Jesus' time, wine was stored in wine skins, not bottles. New wine poured into skins was still fermenting. The gases exerted gave pressure. New wine skins were elastic enough to take the pressure, but old wine skins easily burst because they were hard. What did Jesus mean by this comparison? Are we to reject the old in place of the new? Just as there is a right place and a right time for fasting and for feasting, so there is a right place for the old as well as the new.
Jesus
says the kingdom of heaven is like a householder who brings out of his
treasure what is new and what is old (Matthew 13:52). How impoverished
we would be if we only had the Old Testament books of Scripture or the New
Testament books of Scripture, rather than both. The Lord gives us wisdom so we
can make the best use of both the old and the new. He doesn't want us to hold
rigidly to the past and to be resistant to the new work of his Holy Spirit in
our lives. He wants our minds and hearts to be like new wine skins - open and
ready to receive the new wine of the Holy Spirit. Are you eager to grow in the
knowledge and understanding of God's word and plan for your life?
"Lord
Jesus, fill me with your Holy Spirit, that I may grow in the knowledge of your
great love and truth. Help me to seek you earnestly in prayer and fasting that
I may turn away from sin and wilfulness and conform my life more fully to your
will. May I always find joy in knowing, loving, and serving You who are My
All."
Daily
Quote from the early church fathers: The presence of the Bridegroom, by
Bede the Venerable, 672-735 A.D.
"From
the time that the incarnation of our Savior was first promised to the
patriarchs, it was always awaited by many upright souls with tears and mourning
- until he came. From that time when, after his resurrection, he ascended to heaven,
all the hope of the saints hangs upon his return. It was at the time when he
was keeping company with humanity that his presence was to be celebrated. Then
it would have been unfitting to weep and mourn. For like the bride, she had him
with her bodily whom she loved spiritually. Therefore the bridegroom is Christ,
the bride is the church, and the friends of the bridegroom (Matthew 9:15, Luke
5:34) and of the marriage are each and every one of his faithful companions.
The time of his marriage is that time when, through the mystery of the
incarnation, he is joining the holy church to himself (Revelation 19:7). Thus
it was not by chance, but for the sake of a certain mystical meaning that he
came to a marriage ceremony on earth in the customary fleshly way (John
2:1-12), since he descended from heaven to earth in order to wed the church to
himself in spiritual love. His nuptial chamber was the womb of his virgin
mother. There God was conjoined with human nature. From there he came forth
like a bridegroom to join the church to himself." (excerpt from HOMILIES
ON THE GOSPELS 1.14)
MONDAY, JANUARY 20, MARK 2:18-22
Weekday
(1 Samuel 15:16-23; Psalm 50)
Weekday
(1 Samuel 15:16-23; Psalm 50)
KEY VERSE: "Can the wedding guests fast while the bridegroom is with them?" (v 19).
TO KNOW: The people demanded to know why Jesus' disciples did not fast as was the custom of the Pharisees and the disciples of John. Jesus described his relationship with his followers using the biblical metaphor of marriage (Is 54: 5-7). At a wedding feast, guests were relieved of all obligations that might diminish their joy, including fasting. Jesus was the long-awaited bridegroom whose arrival inaugurated a new era. He is the bridegroom and the Church is the bride. With Jesus in their midst, his followers must not mourn; they must celebrate. Jesus said it was impossible to mix the new ways with the old. It was as futile as trying to patch an old garment with new fabric, or putting fresh wine into old worn-out flasks. The time of patchwork faith was over. Just as new fermenting wine could not be contained in aged and unyielding wine skins, the old order could not hold the new life that Jesus brought.
TO LOVE: Do I resist the changes God wants of me?
TO SERVE: Lord Jesus, I long to celebrate with you at the eternal wedding banquet.
Optional Memorial of Saint Fabian, pope and martyr
Fabian was a farmer who came to Rome on the day when a new pope was to be elected. According to Eusebius, a dove flew in and settled on Fabian’s head. The gathered clergy and laity took this as a sign that Fabian had been anointed, and he was chosen Pope by acclamation. Fabian sent Saint Dionysius and other missionaries to Gaul, which encompasses present day France, Luxembourg, Belgium, most of Switzerland, Northern Italy, as well as the parts of the Netherlands and Germany. Fabian governed as bishop of Rome for 14 peaceful years until his martyrdom in the persecutions of Decius c 250. His relics are long gone, but the stone that covered his grave, clearly written in Greek, says: "Fabian, bishop, martyr" He is buried in the catacombs of Saint Callistus, Rome, Italy.
Optional Memorial of Saint Sebastian, martyr
During Diocletian's persecution of the Christians, Sebastian visited them in prison, bringing supplies and comfort. It was reported that he healed the wife of a soldier by making the Sign of the Cross over her. Charged as a Christian, Sebastian was tied to a tree, shot with arrows, and left for dead. He survived, recovered, and returned to preach to Diocletian. The emperor then had him beaten to death. During the 14th century, the random nature of infection with the Black Death caused people to liken the plague to being shot by an army of nature's archers. In desperation they prayed for the intercession of a saint associated with archers, and Saint Sebastian became the patron saint of the plague.
Martin Luther King Jr. Day
Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., was born on January 15, 1929 in Atlanta, Georgia. He entered the Christian ministry and was ordained in 1948 at the age of nineteen. From 1960 until his death in 1968, he was co-pastor with his father at Ebenezer Baptist Church, President of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference and Vice President of the national Sunday School and Baptist Teaching Union Congress of the National Baptist Convention. Dr. King was a pivotal figure in the Civil Rights Movement. He was elected president of the Montgomery Improvement Association, the organization responsible for the successful Montgomery Bus Boycott. He also helped to organize the 1963 March on Washington, where he delivered his famous "I Have a Dream" speech. He was arrested thirty times for his participation in civil rights activities. Dr. King was shot to death while standing on the balcony of the Lorraine Motel in Memphis, Tennessee on April 4, 1968.
"I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: "We hold these truths to be self-evident: that all men are created equal." - Martin Luther King Jr.
Monday 20 January 2020
1 Samuel 15:16-23. Psalm 49(50):8-9, 16-17, 21, 23. Mark
2:18-22.
To the upright I will show the saving power of God – Psalm 49(50):8-9, 16-17, 21, 23.
‘Instead, new wine must be poured into new skins’
To the upright I will show the saving power of God – Psalm 49(50):8-9, 16-17, 21, 23.
‘Instead, new wine must be poured into new skins’
No one sews a piece of unshrinkable material onto an old cloak,
and no one pours new wine into old wineskins. So, what was Jesus talking about?
On the one hand, it seems he is giving us some sensible advice telling us not
to use an unshrinking cloth to patch up a garment because if the garment gets
wet, then the new patch will shrink. Frequently, during his ministry, Jesus
encountered minds that had become fixed and settled in their thinking. When
Jesus speaks of old and new wine, he is referring to the old and new forms of
religious practice. To become a disciple of Jesus does not mean adding a few
bits and pieces to our lives. Discipleship calls us to a total transformation
of life. Lord may I become a new cloak, a fresh wine skin, a heart ready to
hear your message.
Saint Sebastian
Saint of the Day for January 20
(c. 256 – January 20, 287)
Saint Sebastian’s Story
Almost nothing is historically certain about Sebastian except
that he was a Roman martyr, was venerated in Milan even in the time of
Saint Ambrose and was buried on the Appian Way, probably near the present
Basilica of St. Sebastian. Devotion to him spread rapidly, and he is mentioned
in several martyrologies as early as 350.
The legend of Saint Sebastian is important in art, and
there is a vast iconography. Scholars now agree that a pious fable has
Sebastian entering the Roman army because only there could he assist the
martyrs without arousing suspicion. Finally he was found out, brought before
Emperor Diocletian and delivered to Mauritanian archers to be shot to death.
His body was pierced with arrows, and he was left for dead. But he was found
still alive by those who came to bury him. He recovered, but refused to flee.
One day he took up a position near where the emperor was to
pass. He accosted the emperor, denouncing him for his cruelty to Christians.
This time the sentence of death was carried out. Sebastian was beaten to death
with clubs. He was buried on the Appian Way, close to the catacombs that bear
his name.
Reflection
The fact that many of the early saints made such a tremendous
impression on the Church—awakening widespread devotion and great praise from
the greatest writers of the Church—is proof of the heroism of their lives. As
has been said, legends may not be literally true. Yet they may express the very
substance of the faith and courage evident in the lives of these heroes and
heroines of Christ.
Saint Sebastian is the Patron Saint of:
Athletes
Lectio Divina: Mark 2:18-22
Lectio Divina
Monday, January 20, 2020
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.
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 2:18-22
The disciples of John and of the Pharisees were accustomed to
fast. People came to Jesus and objected, "Why do the disciples of John and
the disciples of the Pharisees fast, but your disciples do not fast?"
Jesus answered them, "Can the wedding guests fast while the bridegroom is
with them? As long as they have the bridegroom with them they cannot fast. But
the days will come when the bridegroom is taken away from them, and then they
will fast on that day. No one sews a piece of unshrunken cloth on an old cloak.
If he does, its fullness pulls away, the new from the old, and the tear gets
worse. Likewise, no one pours new wine into old wineskins. Otherwise, the wine
will burst the skins, and both the wine and the skins are ruined. Rather, new
wine is poured into fresh wineskins."
3) Reflection
• The five conflicts between Jesus and the religious authority.
In Mark 2:1-12 we have seen the first conflict. It was about the forgiveness of
sins. In Mark 2:13-17, the second conflict is on communion around the same table,
with sinners. Today’s Gospel presents the third conflict concerning fasting.
Tomorrow we have the fourth conflict concerning the observance of the Sabbath
(Mk 2:13-28). The day after tomorrow is the last conflict concerning the cure
on the Sabbath (Mk 3:1-6). The conflict concerning fasting has a central place.
For this reason, the words on sewing a piece of new cloth on an old cloak and
the new wine into fresh skins (Mk 2:21-22) should be understood in the light
which also radiates clearly on the other conflicts, two before and two after.
• Jesus does not insist on the practice of fasting. Fasting is a
very ancient practice, practiced by practically all religions. Jesus himself
practiced it during forty days (Mt 4:2). But He does not insist with His disciples
that they do the same thing. He leaves them free. This is why the disciples of
John the Baptist and those of the Pharisees, who were obliged to fast, want to
know why Jesus does not insist on fasting.
• When the bridegroom is with them they do not have to fast.
Jesus responds with a comparison. When the bridegroom is with the friends of
the bridegroom, that is, during the wedding feast, they do not need to fast.
Jesus considers himself the bridegroom. The disciples are the friends of the
bridegroom During the time in which Jesus is with the disciples, there is the
wedding feast. A day will come in which the bridegroom will be absent and then,
if they wish, they can fast. Jesus refers to His death. He knows and feels that
if He wishes to continue on this path of freedom, the religious authority will
want to kill Him.
• To sew a new piece of cloth on an old cloak, pour new wine in
new skins. These two affirmations of Jesus, which Mark places here, clarify the
critical attitude of Jesus before religious authority. One does not sew a piece
of new cloth on an old cloak. When the cloak is washed, the new piece of cloth
tears the cloak and the tear becomes bigger. Nobody puts new wine in old skins,
because the fermentation of the new wine will tear the old skins. New wine in
new skins! The religion defended by the authority was like an old cloak, like
an old skin. It is not necessary to want to change what is new and brought by
Jesus, for old customs. The concepts brought by Jesus cannot be reduced to fit
the measure of Judaism. Either one or the other! The wine which Jesus brings
tears the old skins. It is necessary to know how to separate things. Jesus is
not against what is “old”. What He wants to avoid is that the old impose itself
on the new, and thus, He begins to manifest it.
4) Personal questions
• Beginning with the profound experience of God which encouraged
Him interiorly, Jesus had liberty concerning the norms and religious practices.
Today, do we have this same liberty and the freedom of the mystics?
• A new piece of cloth on an old cloak, new wine in old skins. Does this exist in my life?
• A new piece of cloth on an old cloak, new wine in old skins. Does this exist in my life?
5) Concluding prayer
We have recognized for ourselves,
and put our faith in, the love God has for us. (1Jn 4:16)
and put our faith in, the love God has for us. (1Jn 4:16)
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