Monday 21
January 2013
Readings at Mass
First reading
Hebrews
5:1-10
Every high priest has been taken out of
mankind and is appointed to act for men in their relations with God, to offer
gifts and sacrifices for sins; and so he can sympathise with those who are
ignorant or uncertain because he too lives in the limitations of weakness. That
is why he has to make sin offerings for himself as well as for the people. No
one takes this honour on himself, but each one is called by God, as Aaron was.
Nor did Christ give himself the glory of becoming high priest, but he had it
from the one who said to him: You are my son, today I have become your
father, and in another text: You are a priest of the order of
Melchizedek, and for ever. During his life on earth, he offered up prayer
and entreaty, aloud and in silent tears, to the one who had the power to save
him out of death, and he submitted so humbly that his prayer was heard.
Although he was Son, he learnt to obey through suffering; but having been made
perfect, he became for all who obey him the source of eternal salvation and was
acclaimed by God with the title of high priest of the order of Melchizedek.
Jesus by becoming a real man in a
real human situation like everyone else and even lowering himself to the position
of slave (Phil 2:6) knows what it means to suffer. He knows it by experience. He
also knows what the cost of obedience to God’s Word is. It cost him the agony,
Passion and Death on a Cross. The only way to learn this fully is to experience
it. So, he learnt to obey. Now he is compassionate because he loves us.
Psalm
Psalm
109:1-4
You are a priest for ever, a priest like
Melchizedek of old.
The Lord’s revelation to my Master:
‘Sit on my right:
your foes I will put beneath your feet.’
You are a priest for ever, a priest like
Melchizedek of old.
The Lord will wield from Zion
your sceptre of power:
rule in the midst of all your foes.
You are a priest for ever, a priest like
Melchizedek of old.
A prince from the day of your birth
on the holy mountains;
from the womb before the dawn I begot
you.
You are a priest for ever, a priest like
Melchizedek of old.
The Lord has sworn an oath he will not
change.
‘You are a priest for ever,
a priest like Melchizedek of old.’
You are a priest for ever, a priest like
Melchizedek of old.
____________________
Gospel
Acclamation
cf.1Th2:13
Alleluia, alleluia!
Accept God’s message for what it really
is:
God’s message, and not some human
thinking.
Alleluia!
Or
Heb4:12
Alleluia, alleluia!
The word of God is something alive and
active:
it can judge secret emotions and
thoughts.
Alleluia!
____________________
Gospel
Mark
2:18-22
One day when John’s disciples and the
Pharisees were fasting, some people came to Jesus and said to him, ‘Why is it
that John’s disciples and the disciples of the Pharisees fast, but your
disciples do not?’ Jesus replied, ‘Surely the bridegroom’s attendants would
never think of fasting while the bridegroom is still with them? As long as they
have the bridegroom with them, they could not think of fasting. But the time
will come for the bridegroom to be taken away from them, and then, on that day,
they will fast. No one sews a piece of unshrunken cloth on an old cloak; if he
does, the patch pulls away from it, the new from the old, and the tear gets
worse. And nobody puts new wine into old wineskins; if he does, the wine will
burst the skins, and the wine is lost and the skins too. No! New wine, fresh
skins!’
Jesus the Bridegroom
What is the new cloth, what is the new
wine that Jesus brings? It is himself. Our religion is not a matter of Law or
institutions or rituals. It is the Person of Jesus present to us all and to
each individual. Our religion is our personal relationship of love with him and
our family relationship with one another in the faith. Love for Jesus is the
heart of our religion. It is in faith and not yet in vision. We need then to
search, to resist the temptation to give up and look for worldly gratifications
and to persevere to the end. In searching we grow in our experience of him as
Bridegroom. “Ignorance of the Scriptures is ignorance of Christ”. Do you spend
time each day searching for him through meditation on the Scriptures and
personal and family prayer? Have you experienced his grace daily in your life?
First reading
Hebrews 7:25-8:6
The power of Jesus to save is utterly certain, since he is living for ever to intercede for all who come to God through him.
To suit us, the ideal high priest would have to be holy, innocent and uncontaminated, beyond the influence of sinners, and raised up above the heavens; one who would not need to offer sacrifices every day, as the other high priests do for their own sins and then for those of the people, because he has done this once and for all by offering himself. The Law appoints high priests who are men subject to weakness; but the promise on oath, which came after the Law, appointed the Son who is made perfect for ever.
The great point of all that we have said is that we have a high priest of exactly this kind. He has his place at the right of the throne of divine Majesty in the heavens, and he is the minister of the sanctuary and of the true Tent of Meeting which the Lord, and not any man, set up. It is the duty of every high priest to offer gifts and sacrifices, and so this one too must have something to offer. In fact, if he were on earth, he would not be a priest at all, since there are others who make the offerings laid down by the Law and these only maintain the service of a model or a reflection of the heavenly realities. For Moses, when he had the Tent to build, was warned by God who said: See that you make everything according to the pattern shown you on the mountain.
We have seen that he has been given a ministry of a far higher order, and to the same degree it is a better covenant of which he is the mediator, founded on better promises.
Jesus lives to intercede for us. Such is his love for each of us. We should have no fear. But we should approach him. The closer we are to Jesus the safer we are. Let him take charge of your life. We do this by spending time with him every day. The secret of our religion is that he is in us.
Psalm
Psalm 39:7-10,17
Here I am, Lord! I come to do your will.
____________________
Gospel Acclamation
cf.Jn6:63,68
Alleluia, alleluia!
Your words are spirit, Lord, and they are life;
you have the message of eternal life.
Alleluia!
Or
cf.2Tim1:10
Alleluia, alleluia!
Our Saviour Jesus Christ abolished death
and he has proclaimed life through the Good News.
Alleluia!
____________________
Gospel
Mark 3:7-12
Jesus withdrew with his disciples to the lakeside, and great crowds from Galilee followed him. From Judaea, Jerusalem, Idumaea, Transjordania and the region of Tyre and Sidon, great numbers who had heard of all he was doing came to him. And he asked his disciples to have a boat ready for him because of the crowd, to keep him from being crushed. For he had cured so many that all who were afflicted in any way were crowding forward to touch him. And the unclean spirits, whenever they saw him, would fall down before him and shout, ‘You are the Son of God!’ But he warned them strongly not to make him known.
Spirit-filled is to be fully human
The crowds are flocking to Jesus. Why do they go? They wanted to touch him. They could feel God in him. They needed God. We all need God. We all long for liberation, to be free of what binds us. Every human being desires love, joy, peace, patience, kindness and goodness. The fruits of the Spirit of God give us liberation. We can never have them enough. They make us human. Jesus had them in superabundance because, as a man people could touch, he was filled with God’s Spirit. People touched him to be healed of everything crushing their freedom. Today we need to touch Jesus as they did. But how can we? Where are the persons filled with God’s Spirit? The world needs such people. Are you one? Do you desire to be one? Do you know how to become one? Jesus is the Way. Do you meet him?
Tuesday 22
January 2013
First reading
Hebrews
6:10-20
God would not be so unjust as to forget
all you have done, the love that you have for his name or the services you have
done, and are still doing, for the saints. Our one desire is that every one of
you should go on showing the same earnestness to the end, to the perfect
fulfilment of our hopes, never growing careless, but imitating those who have
the faith and the perseverance to inherit the promises.
When
God made the promise to Abraham, he swore by his own self, since it was
impossible for him to swear by anyone greater: I will shower blessings on
you and give you many descendants. Because of that, Abraham persevered and
saw the promise fulfilled. Men, of course, swear an oath by something greater
than themselves, and between men, confirmation by an oath puts an end to all
dispute. In the same way, when God wanted to make the heirs to the promise
thoroughly realise that his purpose was unalterable, he conveyed this by an
oath; so that there would be two unalterable things in which it was impossible
for God to be lying, and so that we, now we have found safety, should have a
strong encouragement to take a firm grip on the hope that is held out to us.
Here we have an anchor for our soul, as sure as it is firm, and reaching right
through beyond the veil where Jesus has entered before us and on our behalf, to
become a high priest of the order of Melchizedek, and for ever.
In Christ we have received the
promise of life everlasting in the happiness and glory of God. However life is
a life of faith in a world of many distractions. It is not difficult tolose the
faith we have. Or even if we do not lose the faith completely, to live on a
very superficial level. We need to persevere in our daily search for the Lord
Jesus. In prayer, we must daily seek him and continue to live with him and for
him. We must keep our eyes on Jesus. He is the Bridegroom.
Psalm
Psalm
110:1-2,4-5,9,10
The Lord keeps his covenant ever in
mind.
I will thank the Lord with all my heart
in the meeting of the just and their
assembly.
Great are the works of the Lord,
to be pondered by all who love them.
The Lord keeps his covenant ever in
mind.
He makes us remember his wonders.
The Lord is compassion and love.
He gives food to those who fear him;
keeps his covenant ever in mind.
The Lord keeps his covenant ever in
mind.
He has sent deliverance to his people
and established his covenant for ever.
Holy his name, to be feared.
His praise shall last for ever!
The Lord keeps his covenant ever in
mind.
____________________
Gospel
Acclamation
Ps118:18
Alleluia, alleluia!
Open my eyes, O Lord, that I may
consider
the wonders of your law.
Alleluia!
Or
cf.Ep1:17,18
Alleluia, alleluia!
May the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ
enlighten the eyes of our mind,
so that we can see what hope his call
holds for us.
Alleluia!
____________________
Gospel
Mark
2:23-28
One sabbath day Jesus happened to be
taking a walk through the cornfields, and his disciples began to pick ears of
corn as they went along. And the Pharisees said to him, ‘Look, why are they
doing something on the sabbath day that is forbidden?’ And he replied, ‘Did 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 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; the
Son of Man is master even of the sabbath.’
Religion love or
ritual
Jesus decides what is right and wrong.
He is Lord of the Sabbath. He is to decide what is right and wrong in our life
too. For him to do this we must have a personal relationship in prayer with
him. Without that religion becomes a matter of keeping rules, keeping the
letter while breaking the spirit, seeing how far we can go without a sin. In
prayer, however, we hear Jesus speaking to us through the Gospels. He will
convict us of our sin. We cannot live in sin, if we live with him. If we live
in him we cannot deceive ourselves that what we do is not sinful. We cannot
pretend to be what we are not, like whitened sepulchres. When we walk with
Jesus through life sincerity, honesty, justice, peace and love will be the
characteristics of our lives. Are they of yours?
Wednesday 23
January 2013
First reading
Hebrews
7:1-3,15-17
You remember that Melchizedek, king
of Salem, a priest of God Most High, went to meet Abraham who was on his way
back after defeating the kings, and blessed him; and also that it
was to him that Abraham gave a tenth of all that he had. By the
interpretation of his name, he is, first, ‘king of righteousness’ and also king
of Salem, that is, ‘king of peace’; he has no father, mother or ancestry,
and his life has no beginning or ending; he is like the Son of God. He remains
a priest for ever.
This
becomes even more clearly evident when there appears a second Melchizedek, who
is a priest not by virtue of a law about physical descent, but by the power of
an indestructible life. For it was about him that the prophecy was made: You
are a priest of the order of Melchizedek, and for ever.
Jesus is the eternal High Priest
who is compassionate to us in our weakness and loves each of us to the point of
offering his life for us on the Cross. He has now entered not just the inner
holy of holies of an ordinary man-made temple, but has entered into the
presence of God Almighty. He is the One who will lead those who come to him
into God’s presence to live for ever as his children in the Trinity, which is
the ‘Family’ of God.
Psalm
Psalm
109:1-4
You are a priest for ever, a priest like
Melchizedek of old.
The Lord’s revelation to my Master:
‘Sit on my right:
your foes I will put beneath your feet.’
You are a priest for ever, a priest like
Melchizedek of old.
The Lord will wield from Zion
your sceptre of power:
rule in the midst of all your foes.
You are a priest for ever, a priest like
Melchizedek of old.
A prince from the day of your birth
on the holy mountains;
from the womb before the dawn I begot
you.
You are a priest for ever, a priest like
Melchizedek of old.
The Lord has sworn an oath he will not
change.
‘You are a priest for ever,
a priest like Melchizedek of old.’
You are a priest for ever, a priest like
Melchizedek of old.
____________________
Gospel
Acclamation
Heb4:12
Alleluia, alleluia!
The word of God is something alive and
active:
it can judge secret emotions and
thoughts.
Alleluia!
Or
cf.Mt4:23
Alleluia, alleluia!
Jesus proclaimed the Good News of the
kingdom
and cured all kinds of sickness among
the people.
Alleluia!
____________________
Gospel
Mark
3:1-6
Jesus went again into a synagogue, and
there was a man there who had a withered hand. And they were watching him to
see if he would cure him on the sabbath day, hoping for something to use
against him. He said to the man with the withered hand, ‘Stand up out in the
middle!’ Then he said to them, ‘Is it against the law on the sabbath day to do good,
or to do evil; to save life, or to kill?’ But they said nothing. Then, grieved
to find them so obstinate, he looked angrily round at them, and said to the
man, ‘Stretch out your hand.’ He stretched it out and his hand was better. The
Pharisees went out and at once began to plot with the Herodians against him,
discussing how to destroy him.
Jesus, Guide for
Living
The hearts of the Jews are closed.
They are relentless opponents to every word and action of Jesus. Are you open
to him? Are you ready to change your way of thinking, of your cultural
traditions because of his word? Are you ready to see human beings as precious
(Isaiah 43:5) whatever their religion, race or caste and treat them with the
respect and dignity God has given them? Jesus sees this man as God’s son in
need of healing. From God’s view point is this not the purpose of religion?
Would it not be a sin to delay the healing in the name of religion? Jesus heals
him in the name of the Sabbath. Their minds are twisted. The Sabbath does not
tolerate healing a suffering man but tolerates their planning to kill the one
who gives life. Where do you get your views from, the world or Jesus?
Thursday 24 January 2013
Hebrews 7:25-8:6
The power of Jesus to save is utterly certain, since he is living for ever to intercede for all who come to God through him.
To suit us, the ideal high priest would have to be holy, innocent and uncontaminated, beyond the influence of sinners, and raised up above the heavens; one who would not need to offer sacrifices every day, as the other high priests do for their own sins and then for those of the people, because he has done this once and for all by offering himself. The Law appoints high priests who are men subject to weakness; but the promise on oath, which came after the Law, appointed the Son who is made perfect for ever.
The great point of all that we have said is that we have a high priest of exactly this kind. He has his place at the right of the throne of divine Majesty in the heavens, and he is the minister of the sanctuary and of the true Tent of Meeting which the Lord, and not any man, set up. It is the duty of every high priest to offer gifts and sacrifices, and so this one too must have something to offer. In fact, if he were on earth, he would not be a priest at all, since there are others who make the offerings laid down by the Law and these only maintain the service of a model or a reflection of the heavenly realities. For Moses, when he had the Tent to build, was warned by God who said: See that you make everything according to the pattern shown you on the mountain.
We have seen that he has been given a ministry of a far higher order, and to the same degree it is a better covenant of which he is the mediator, founded on better promises.
Jesus lives to intercede for us. Such is his love for each of us. We should have no fear. But we should approach him. The closer we are to Jesus the safer we are. Let him take charge of your life. We do this by spending time with him every day. The secret of our religion is that he is in us.
Psalm
Psalm 39:7-10,17
Psalm
Psalm
39:7-10,17
Here I am, Lord! I come to do your will.
You do not ask for sacrifice and
offerings,
but an open ear.
You do not ask for holocaust and victim.
Instead, here am I.
Here I am, Lord! I come to do your will.
In the scroll of the book it stands
written
that I should do your will.
My God, I delight in your law
in the depth of my heart.
Here I am, Lord! I come to do your will.
Your justice I have proclaimed
in the great assembly.
My lips I have not sealed;
you know it, O Lord.
Here I am, Lord! I come to do your will.
O let there be rejoicing and gladness
for all who seek you.
Let them ever say: ‘The Lord is great’,
who love your saving help.
Here I am, Lord! I come to do your will.
____________________
Gospel Acclamation
cf.Jn6:63,68
Alleluia, alleluia!
Your words are spirit, Lord, and they are life;
you have the message of eternal life.
Alleluia!
Or
cf.2Tim1:10
Alleluia, alleluia!
Our Saviour Jesus Christ abolished death
and he has proclaimed life through the Good News.
Alleluia!
____________________
Gospel
Mark 3:7-12
Jesus withdrew with his disciples to the lakeside, and great crowds from Galilee followed him. From Judaea, Jerusalem, Idumaea, Transjordania and the region of Tyre and Sidon, great numbers who had heard of all he was doing came to him. And he asked his disciples to have a boat ready for him because of the crowd, to keep him from being crushed. For he had cured so many that all who were afflicted in any way were crowding forward to touch him. And the unclean spirits, whenever they saw him, would fall down before him and shout, ‘You are the Son of God!’ But he warned them strongly not to make him known.
Spirit-filled is to be fully human
The crowds are flocking to Jesus. Why do they go? They wanted to touch him. They could feel God in him. They needed God. We all need God. We all long for liberation, to be free of what binds us. Every human being desires love, joy, peace, patience, kindness and goodness. The fruits of the Spirit of God give us liberation. We can never have them enough. They make us human. Jesus had them in superabundance because, as a man people could touch, he was filled with God’s Spirit. People touched him to be healed of everything crushing their freedom. Today we need to touch Jesus as they did. But how can we? Where are the persons filled with God’s Spirit? The world needs such people. Are you one? Do you desire to be one? Do you know how to become one? Jesus is the Way. Do you meet him?
Friday 25
January 2013
First reading
Acts
22:3-16
Paul said to the people, ‘I am a Jew and
was born at Tarsus in Cilicia. I was brought up here in this city. I studied
under Gamaliel and was taught the exact observance of the Law of our ancestors.
In fact, I was as full of duty towards God as you are today. I even persecuted
this Way to the death, and sent women as well as men to prison in chains as the
high priest and the whole council of elders can testify, since they even sent
me with letters to their brothers in Damascus. When I set off it was with the
intention of bringing prisoners back from there to Jerusalem for punishment.
‘I
was on that journey and nearly at Damascus when about midday a bright light
from heaven suddenly shone round me. I fell to the ground and heard a voice
saying, “Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me?” I answered: Who are you,
Lord? and he said to me, “I am Jesus the Nazarene, and you are persecuting me.”
The people with me saw the light but did not hear his voice as he spoke to me.
I said: What am I to do, Lord? The Lord answered, “Stand up and go into
Damascus, and there you will be told what you have been appointed to do.” The
light had been so dazzling that I was blind and my companions had to take me by
the hand; and so I came to Damascus.
‘Someone
called Ananias, a devout follower of the Law and highly thought of by all the
Jews living there, came to see me; he stood beside me and said, “Brother Saul,
receive your sight.” Instantly my sight came back and I was able to see him.
Then he said, “The God of our ancestors has chosen you to know his will, to see
the Just One and hear his own voice speaking, because you are to be his witness
before all mankind, testifying to what you have seen and heard. And now why
delay? It is time you were baptised and had your sins washed away while
invoking his name.”’
What changed Paul? It was that he
met Jesus, first on the road to Damascus and then daily in his prayer. Daily
his faith in and love for Jesus grew and so did his service. He shared with
others the blessings he had experienced from Jesus. This is always the driving
force and the motivation behind the spreading of the Gospel. If we love Christ,
then we want to share him with others.
Psalm
Psalm
116:1-2
Go out to the whole world; proclaim the
Good News.
or
Alleluia!
O praise the Lord, all you nations,
acclaim him all you peoples!
Go out to the whole world; proclaim the
Good News.
or
Alleluia!
Strong is his love for us;
he is faithful for ever.
Go out to the whole world; proclaim the
Good News.
or
Alleluia!
____________________
Gospel
Acclamation
cf.Jn15:16
Alleluia, alleluia!
I chose you from the world
to go out and bear fruit,
fruit that will last,
says the Lord.
Alleluia!
____________________
Gospel
Mark
16:15-18
Jesus said to his disciples, ‘Go out to
the whole world; proclaim the Good News to all creation. He who believes and is
baptised will be saved; he who does not believe will be condemned. These are
the signs that will be associated with believers: in my name they will cast out
devils; they will have the gift of tongues; they will pick up snakes in their
hands, and be unharmed should they drink deadly poison; they will lay their
hands on the sick, who will recover.’
Meet Jesus and change
Paul, even in his days of darkness,
wholeheartedly followed what he thought God wanted of him. He was dedicated to
the Law and the traditions of the Judaic religion. But when he met the Lord
Jesus on the Road to Damascus
Saturday 26
January 2013
First reading
2
Timothy 1:1-8
From Paul, appointed by God to be an
apostle of Christ Jesus in his design to promise life in Christ Jesus; to
Timothy, dear child of mine, wishing you grace, mercy and peace from God the
Father and from Christ Jesus our Lord.
Night
and day I thank God, keeping my conscience clear and remembering my duty to him
as my ancestors did, and always I remember you in my prayers; I remember your
tears and long to see you again to complete my happiness. Then I am reminded of
the sincere faith which you have; it came first to live in your grandmother
Lois, and your mother Eunice, and I have no doubt that it is the same faith in
you as well.
That
is why I am reminding you now to fan into a flame the gift that God gave you
when I laid my hands on you. God’s gift was not a spirit of timidity, but the
Spirit of power, and love, and self-control. So you are never to be ashamed of
witnessing to the Lord, or ashamed of me for being his prisoner; but with me,
bear the hardships for the sake of the Good News, relying on the power of God
who has saved us and called us to be holy.
We all long for the Holy Spirit,
because we all long for love. The Holy Spirit is Love. The Holy Spirit is the
source of all the love there is in the world. That is why the image for the Spirit is the
dove. The Spirit is the love of God, Source of everything. If we rely on the power
of God to work in our lives then we will be able to achieve great things for
God, which is also for good.
Psalm
Psalm
95:1-3,7-8,10
Proclaim the wonders of the Lord among
all the peoples.
O sing a new song to the Lord,
sing to the Lord all the earth.
O sing to the Lord, bless his name.
Proclaim the wonders of the Lord among
all the peoples.
Proclaim his help day by day,
tell among the nations his glory
and his wonders among all the peoples.
Proclaim the wonders of the Lord among
all the peoples.
Give the Lord, you families of peoples,
give the Lord glory and power;
give the Lord the glory of his name.
Proclaim the wonders of the Lord among
all the peoples.
Proclaim to the nations: ‘God is king.’
The world he made firm in its place;
he will judge the peoples in fairness.
Proclaim the wonders of the Lord among
all the peoples.
____________________
Gospel
Acclamation
2Co5:19
Alleluia, alleluia!
God in Christ was reconciling the world
to himself,
and he has entrusted to us the news that
they are reconciled.
Alleluia!
Or
cf.Ac16:14
Alleluia, alleluia!
Open our heart, O Lord,
to accept the words of your Son.
Alleluia!
____________________
Gospel
Mark
3:20-21
Jesus went home, and once more such a
crowd collected that they could not even have a meal. When his relatives heard
of this, they set out to take charge of him, convinced he was out of his mind.
God’s love knows no
limits
The crowds are wildly enthusiastic and
flock to him in great numbers. There are so many and they all need to be
ministered to. Jesus and his disciples do not spare themselves. They give
themselves so that they do not even have time to eat. However we interpret the
words about his family, they are concerned for him and want to be of help. As
we will see, his family members need to learn that Jesus is establishing a
family based on faith. Those who accept him will be given the authority to
become the children of God, born not in the natural way but born of God. They
will be his true family: those who hear the Word of God and keep it. Do you
imitate Jesus in his unselfish ministry to people
or do you have clear boundaries of service, which you will not pass?
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