February 10, 2025
Memorial of Saint
Scholastica, Virgin
Lectionary: 329
Reading 1
In the beginning, when God created the heavens and the
earth,
the earth was a formless wasteland, and darkness covered the abyss,
while a mighty wind swept over the waters.
Then God said,
“Let there be light,” and there was light.
God saw how good the light was.
God then separated the light from the darkness.
God called the light “day,” and the darkness he called “night.”
Thus evening came, and morning followed–the first day.
Then God said,
“Let there be a dome in the middle of the waters,
to separate one body of water from the other.”
And so it happened:
God made the dome,
and it separated the water above the dome from the water below it.
God called the dome “the sky.”
Evening came, and morning followed–the second day.
Then God said,
“Let the water under the sky be gathered into a single basin,
so that the dry land may appear.”
And so it happened:
the water under the sky was gathered into its basin,
and the dry land appeared.
God called the dry land “the earth,”
and the basin of the water he called “the sea.”
God saw how good it was.
Then God said,
“Let the earth bring forth vegetation:
every kind of plant that bears seed
and every kind of fruit tree on earth
that bears fruit with its seed in it.”
And so it happened:
the earth brought forth every kind of plant that bears seed
and every kind of fruit tree on earth that
bears fruit with its seed in it.
God saw how good it was.
Evening came, and morning followed–the third day.
Then God said:
“Let there be lights in the dome of the sky,
to separate day from night.
Let them mark the fixed times, the days and the years,
and serve as luminaries in the dome of the sky,
to shed light upon the earth.”
And so it happened:
God made the two great lights,
the greater one to govern the day,
and the lesser one to govern the night;
and he made the stars.
God set them in the dome of the sky,
to shed light upon the earth,
to govern the day and the night,
and to separate the light from the darkness.
God saw how good it was.
Evening came, and morning followed–the fourth day.
Responsorial Psalm
Psalm
104:1-2a, 5-6, 10, 12, 24, 35c
R. (31b) May the Lord be glad in
his works.
Bless the LORD, O my soul!
O LORD, my God, you are great indeed!
You are clothed with majesty and glory,
robed in light as with a cloak.
R. May the Lord be glad in his works.
You fixed the earth upon its foundation,
not to be moved forever;
With the ocean, as with a garment, you covered it;
above the mountains the waters stood.
R. May the Lord be glad in his works.
You send forth springs into the watercourses
that wind among the mountains.
Beside them the birds of heaven dwell;
from among the branches they send forth their song.
R. May the Lord be glad in his works.
How manifold are your works, O LORD!
In wisdom you have wrought them all—
the earth is full of your creatures;
Bless the LORD, O my soul! Alleluia.
R. May the Lord be glad in his works.
Alleluia
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
Jesus preached the Gospel of the Kingdom
and cured every disease among the people.
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
Gospel
After making the crossing to the other side of the sea,
Jesus and his disciples came to land at Gennesaret
and tied up there.
As they were leaving the boat, people immediately recognized him.
They scurried about the surrounding country
and began to bring in the sick on mats
to wherever they heard he was.
Whatever villages or towns or countryside he entered,
they laid the sick in the marketplaces
and begged him that they might touch only the tassel on his cloak;
and as many as touched it were healed.
https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/021025.cfm
Commentary on
Genesis 1:1-19
Today we begin reading the Book of Genesis and the story of
Creation. Although Genesis is at the beginning of the Bible, that does not mean
that it was the first book to be written, still less that it represents an
“eyewitness account”. In fact, experts distinguish a combination of accounts
written at different times. The form we now have is a later, sophisticated
work, written with a specific purpose in mind. It is not a scientific account
and it does not clash with more recent scientific discoveries because it is
written on a completely different level.
It is more about God, and our relationship with God, than
about how the world actually came to be. The central message is that there is
only one God, and that he is the source of all that is; he is totally good, and
everything he creates is good. Genesis acts as an introduction to the five
books of the Pentateuch, the Law of Israel, and shows how God brought order
into a chaotic universe.
Our present selection of readings covers the first 11
chapters, which deal with what is called the ‘primeval history’ or pre-history,
the Creation, the various ‘falls’, and ends with the incident of the Tower of
Babel. The rest of Genesis is concerned with the origin of God’s people, with
the first patriarch Abraham and his immediate descendants—Isaac, Jacob and
Joseph and his brothers. We will cover the second part of Genesis in Weeks
12-14 of Cycle I. The last word of Genesis is ‘Egypt’, and leads immediately
into the Book of the Exodus, describing a much later period where we find the
Israelites living in Egypt.
Today’s reading begins with God bringing into existence (out
of nothing) what we might call the infrastructure of our world. This section
introduces the whole Pentateuch and, in a way, the whole Bible. It shows how God
brought (created) an orderly universe out of primordial chaos (of nothingness).
It forms a background for the call of Abram and the real beginning of the
biblical story in chapter 12.
This first version of the creation story is attributed to
the ‘Priestly Source’ (vs the ‘Yahwist Source’). As such, it is less detailed
and more theological. Its primary focus is on God’s role. It aims at a complete
logical classification of beings whose creation is deliberately fitted into the
framework of a week that closes with the Sabbath day of rest. The text makes
use of the primitive science of its day. It would be a mistake to look for
points of agreement between the picture given here and the data of modern
science (hence, the futility of the debate between the so-called ‘Creationists’
and ‘Evolutionists’).
The text uses a scenario found in some creation myth
stories, but the emphasis here is very much on our world as the creative work
of a single transcendent and all-good God, existing before the world he brought
into being.
Recounting the origin of the cosmos and its glorious
centrepiece, earth, it shows God masterfully orchestrating the events of
creation. Each phase follows more or less the same basic pattern established on
Day One: divine command, result, divine approval, enumeration of the day. The
effect is anything but monotonous. Like a musical theme with variations, the
story shows the world gradually becoming more mobile and complex, until, by the
sixth day, it is ready for self-perpetuation through procreation (for detailed
discussion, see The Harper-Collins Study Bible introductory
section on Genesis).
“In the beginning” is not seen as a beginning from infinity
as suggested by the opening of John’s Gospel:
In the beginning was the Word… (John 1:1)
It is not a creation from nothing; it is the beginning of
recorded history rather than the origin of being which the philosophers seek to
understand. The earth was a formless void and darkness covered the abyss
(deep). There was a total lack of order and no light. God was absent. But with
God there came order, an astounding and undeniable feature of a universe whose
existence is often attributed to pure chance.
A “wind from God” hovered over the chaotic watery wastes of
the deep. This is not the creative wind of the Spirit. Creation is said to have
been brought into being either by the “word” or the “act” of God. But some
translators do see the Spirit of God present in the phrase.
The deep (or the abyss) is the primordial ocean according to
the ancient Semitic understanding of the universe. After God’s creative
activity, part of this vast body forms the salt-water seas (Gen 1:9 and
following); part of it is the fresh water under the earth (Ps 33:7; Ezek 31:4),
which wells forth on the earth as springs and fountains (Gen 7:11; 8:2; Prov
3:20). Part of it, “waters above the heavens” (Ps 148:4), is held up by the
dome of the sky (Gen 1:6 and following) from which rain descends on the earth
(Gen 7:11; 2 Kings 7:2,19; Ps 104:13).
The rest of today’s reading deals with the first four days
of creation. First, there is light, but the sources of the light are not yet
mentioned. Light is created, but not darkness, which is a purely negative
concept. The creation of light is mentioned first, since the succession of days
and nights is to be the frame in which the work of creation takes place. God
saw the light as good, and God separated light from darkness. It was “good” in
the sense of being both acceptable and also intrinsically good:
God called the light Day, and the darkness he called
Night.
There was evening and
morning, the first day
In ancient Israel, a day was considered to begin at sunset. According to
the highly artificial structure of the creation story, God’s activity is
divided into six days to teach the sacredness of Sabbath rest on the seventh
day in the Israelite religion. We should remember, too, how in the Gospel the
Sabbath begins on the evening of Friday. That was why Jesus had to be buried
before sundown on Good Friday, when the Sabbath would begin (see Mark 15:42).
On each of the succeeding days the same formula will be
followed:
God said: Let there be…
– What was commanded comes into being.
– God sees that his work is good.
– The number of the day is given.
God then made a dome or vault in the midst of the waters,
separating waters from waters. The vault, that is, the sky or the heavens, now
divided the waters above the dome from the waters below it. This is the
universe as the ancients understood it in their visual observations, from a
vantage point they believed to be the centre: a flat earth and a curved and
solid heavenly dome surrounded above and below by primordial waters. The water
below produced springs from which rivers and lakes originated; the water above
explained the rain, which came through apertures (“windows”) in the vault (the
understanding of cloud-forming evaporation was still centuries away!).
Evening and morning made the
second day
The waters under heaven now are brought together and reveal dry land, thus
producing “Earth” and “Seas”:
And God saw that it was good.
Next vegetation and plants appear bearing all kinds of
fruits and seeds. (What is remarkable is that the succession of creations
harmonises with a contemporary understanding of evolution: vegetation, swarming
creatures, fish, birds, animals [mammals] and human beings.) Again:
…God saw that it was good.
Evening and morning, it is
the third day
Lights are now created in the vault or dome to divide the day from the
night. Light has already been created, but now its dissemination is divided
among the heavenly bodies. These will also mark seasons, days and years, and
give light to the earth. There is one great light to rule the day and a lesser
one to rule the night, as well as the stars—to separate light from darkness.
The names ‘sun’ and ‘moon’ are deliberately omitted because these were often
treated as gods by neighbouring peoples. For God’s people, they are no more
than heavenly lamps dividing day and night and marking the seasons and times
for festivals.
God saw it was good. Evening
and morning it is the fourth day
Through all this there is the underlying refrain:
And God saw that it was good.
The message is clear: there is only one God and he is
totally good and everything he does is good—very good. Why then is there so
much evil and suffering in the world? The answer to that question will come
later.
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Commentary on Mark
6:53-56
In last Saturday’s Gospel reading, we saw Jesus and the
Twelve landing at a remote place by the lake shore to spend a day of quietness
and reflection. But as soon as they disembarked, they were met by a huge number
of people for whom Jesus, as their Shepherd, was filled with the deepest
compassion. After teaching them at length, he arranged with his disciples for
the 5,000 people there to be fed.
After this, the disciples were sent off in their boat to
Bethsaida. On the way, they ran into a huge storm. In the middle of it, Jesus
appeared walking on the water. When he got into the boat and commanded the wind
and the waves, there was total calm. In our weekday readings from Mark, these
two scenes are passed over at this point (but we will be reflecting on them at
another time).
Today we have a passage summarising what Jesus was doing for
the people. It indicates the tremendous hunger of the people to be healed and
made whole by Jesus. The people recognise him immediately and go everywhere to
see him, bringing along those in need of healing. Jesus, in turn, was visiting
towns and villages. The sick, strong in their faith, only asked to be allowed
to touch the edges of his outer garment, and everyone who touched him was
healed and made whole.
Let us pray that our influence on others at home, at work,
and elsewhere may have a truly healing effect.
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https://livingspace.sacredspace.ie/
Monday, February 10,
2025
Ordinary Time
Opening Prayer
Father,
watch over your family and keep us safe in your care, for all our hope is in you. 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.
Gospel Reading -
Mark 6: 53-56
Having made the crossing, Jesus and his disciples came to
land at Gennesaret and moored there.
When they disembarked people at once recognized him and
started hurrying all through the countryside and brought the sick on stretchers
to wherever they heard he was. And wherever he went, to village or town or
farm, they laid down the sick in the open spaces, begging him to let them touch
even the fringe of his cloak. And all those who touched him were saved.
Reflection
The text of today’s Gospel is the final part of the whole
passage of Mark 6: 45-56 which presents three different themes: a) Jesus goes
to the mountain alone to pray (Mk 6: 45-46). b) Immediately after,
he walks on the water,
goes toward the disciples who
are struggling against the waves
of the sea (Mk 6: 47-52). c) Now, in today’s Gospel, when they were already on
the shore, the people look for Jesus so that he can cure their sick (Mk 6:
53-56).
• Mark 6: 53-56. The
search of the people. “At that time, Jesus and his disciples having made the crossing, they came to land at
Gennesaret. When they disembarked, the people at once recognized him.” The people were numerous
looking for Jesus. They came from all parts, bringing their sick. The
enthusiasm of the people who look for Jesus and recognizing
him follow him is surprising. What impels people
to search for Jesus is not only the desire to encounter him, to
be with him, but rather the desire to be cured of the sicknesses. “And hurrying
all through the countryside they brought the sick on stretchers to wherever
they heard he went.”
• And wherever he
went to village or town or farm, they laid down the sick in the open spaces,
begging him to let them touch even the fringe of his cloak, and all those who
touched him were saved.” The Gospel of
Matthew comments and enlightens this fact quoting the figure of the Servant of Yahweh, of whom Isaiah says:
“Yet ours were the sufferings he was bearing, ours the sorrows he was
carrying.” (Is 53: 4 and Mt 8: 16-17)
• To teach and to
cure, to cure and to teach. Right from the beginning of his apostolic activity,
Jesus goes through all the villages of Galilee, to speak to the people about the imminent coming of the Kingdom of God (Mk 1: 14-15).
There, wherever he finds people to listen to him, he speaks
and transmits the Good News of God, he accepts the sick, in all places: in the
Synagogues during the celebration of the Word, on Saturday (Mk 1: 21; 3: 1; 6: 2); in the informal meetings in the house of friends (Mk
2: 1, 15; 7: 17; 9: 28; 10: 10); walking on the street with the disciples (Mk
2: 23); along the beach, sitting in a boat (Mk 4: 1); in the desert where he
took refuge and where people looked for him (Mk 1: 45; 6: 32-34); on the
mountain from where he proclaimed the Beatitudes (Mt 5: 1); in the squares of
the villages and of the cities, where the people took their sick (Mk 6: 55-56);
in the Temple of Jerusalem, on the occasion of pilgrimages, every day without
fear (Mk 14: 49)! To cure and to teach, to teach and to cure that is what Jesus
did the most (Mk 2: 13; 4: 1-2; 6: 34). This is what he used to do (Mk 10: 1).
The people were amazed (Mk 12: 37; 1: 22, 27; 11: 18) and they looked for him,
as a crowd.
• In the origin of
this great enthusiasm of the people was, on the one hand, the person of Jesus
who called and attracted and, on the
other side, the abandonment in which people lived, they were like sheep
without a shepherd (cf. Mk 6: 34). In Jesus, everything was revelation of what
impelled him from within! He not only spoke of God, but he also revealed him.
He communicated something of what he himself lived and experienced. He not only
announced the Good News. He himself was a proof, a living witness of the
Kingdom. In him was manifested what happens
when a human
being allows God to
reign in his life. What has value, what is important, is
not only the words, but also and above
all the witness, the concrete gesture. This is the Good News which attracts!
Personal Questions
• The enthusiasm of
the people of Jesus, looking for the sense of life and a solution for their
ills. Where does this exist today? Does in exist in you, does it exist in
others?
• What attracts is
the loving attitude of Jesus toward the poor and the abandoned. And I, how do I
deal with the persons excluded by society?
Concluding Prayer
How countless are your works, Yahweh, all of them made so
wisely!
The earth is full of your creatures. Bless Yahweh, my soul.
(Ps 104: 24.35)
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