Monday 4
February 2013
First reading
Hebrews
11:32-40
Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, or of
David, Samuel and the prophets – these were men who through faith
conquered kingdoms, did what is right and earned the promises. They could keep
a lion’s mouth shut, put out blazing fires and emerge unscathed from battle.
They were weak people who were given strength, to be brave in war and drive
back foreign invaders. Some came back to their wives from the dead, by
resurrection; and others submitted to torture, refusing release so that they
would rise again to a better life. Some had to bear being pilloried and
flogged, or even chained up in prison. They were stoned, or sawn in half, or
beheaded; they were homeless, and dressed in the skins of sheep and goats; they
were penniless and were given nothing but ill-treatment. They were too good for
the world and they went out to live in deserts and mountains and in caves and
ravines. These are all heroes of faith, but they did not receive what was
promised, since God had made provision for us to have something better, and
they were not to reach perfection except with us.
Love is the greatest of God’s
gifts (1 Cor.12:31) but Faith opens our eyes to a new world which others cannot
see or experience. Through Faith we can live with God now and experience of the
presence of Jesus who transforms us and sets us on fire with the Holy Spirit. Through
Faith we can have a completely new experience of Life. We need to beg God for a
daily growth in Faith.
Psalm
Psalm
30:20-24
Let your heart take courage, all who
hope in the Lord.
How great is the goodness, Lord,
that you keep for those who fear you,
that you show to those who trust you
in the sight of men.
Let your heart take courage, all who
hope in the Lord.
You hide them in the shelter of your
presence
from the plotting of men;
you keep them safe within your tent
from disputing tongues.
Let your heart take courage, all who
hope in the Lord.
Blessed be the Lord who has shown me
the wonders of his love
in a fortified city.
Let your heart take courage, all who
hope in the Lord.
‘I am far removed from your sight’
I said in my alarm.
Yet you heard the voice of my plea
when I cried for help.
Let your heart take courage, all who
hope in the Lord.
Love the Lord, all you saints.
He guards his faithful
but the Lord will repay to the full
those who act with pride.
Let your heart take courage, all who
hope in the Lord.
____________________
Gospel
Acclamation
Jn17:17
Alleluia, alleluia!
Your word is truth, O Lord:
consecrate us in the truth.
Alleluia!
Or
Lk7:16
Alleluia, alleluia!
A great prophet has appeared among us;
God has visited his people.
Alleluia!
____________________
Gospel
Mark
5:1-20
Jesus and his disciples reached the
country of the Gerasenes on the other side of the lake, and no sooner had Jesus
left the boat than a man with an unclean spirit came out from the tombs towards
him. The man lived in the tombs and no one could secure him any more, even with
a chain; because he had often been secured with fetters and chains but had
snapped the chains and broken the fetters, and no one had the strength to control
him. All night and all day, among the tombs and in the mountains, he would howl
and gash himself with stones. Catching sight of Jesus from a distance, he ran
up and fell at his feet and shouted at the top of his voice, ‘What do you want
with me, Jesus, son of the Most High God? Swear by God you will not torture me!’ –
For Jesus had been saying to him, ‘Come out of the man, unclean spirit.’ ‘What
is your name?’ Jesus asked. ‘My name is legion,’ he answered ‘for there are
many of us.’ And he begged him earnestly not to send them out of the district.
Now
there was there on the mountainside a great herd of pigs feeding, and the
unclean spirits begged him, ‘Send us to the pigs, let us go into them.’ So he
gave them leave. With that, the unclean spirits came out and went into the
pigs, and the herd of about two thousand pigs charged down the cliff into the
lake, and there they were drowned. The swineherds ran off and told their story
in the town and in the country round about; and the people came to see what had
really happened. They came to Jesus and saw the demoniac sitting there, clothed
and in his full senses – the very man who had had the legion in him
before – and they were afraid. And those who had witnessed it reported
what had happened to the demoniac and what had become of the pigs. Then they
began to implore Jesus to leave the neighbourhood. As he was getting into the
boat, the man who had been possessed begged to be allowed to stay with him.
Jesus would not let him but said to him, ‘Go home to your people and tell them
all that the Lord in his mercy has done for you.’ So the man went off and
proceeded to spread throughout the Decapolis all that Jesus had done for him.
And everyone was amazed.
Sent to Free the
Oppressed
Jesus is in gentile country. He has just calmed the storm at
sea. Now he meets a man in whose head a storm rages. He is totally deranged due
to evil spirits dwelling in him. He comes to Jesus. Why? There is something
irresistibly attractive about Jesus. Mark describes the man’s miserable
condition. Humanly speaking his condition is hopeless. However, Jesus has total
power over evil and since the man has come to him, Jesus will liberate him.
Jesus will liberate everyone who meets him in sincerity. Whatever the sin in
which we are entangled Jesus has power to free us. We must come to him daily in
great simplicity, sincerity, and humility begging his mercy. He will heal you
and send you to proclaim what the Lord has done for you. What has Jesus done
for you? Do you proclaim the blessings you have received personally from the
Lord?
Tuesday 5
February 2013
First reading
Hebrews
12:1-4
With so many witnesses in a great cloud
on every side of us, we too, then, should throw off everything that hinders us,
especially the sin that clings so easily, and keep running steadily in the race
we have started. Let us not lose sight of Jesus, who leads us in our faith and
brings it to perfection: for the sake of the joy which was still in the future,
he endured the cross, disregarding the shamefulness of it, and from now on
has taken his place at the right of God’s throne. Think of the way he stood
such opposition from sinners and then you will not give up for want of courage.
In the fight against sin, you have not yet had to keep fighting to the point of
death.
Everything in the Scriptures
indicates that we are on a journey. Today
we are told to keep running in the race and not to give up. It is obvious too,
when we look at life that it is a journey whether we like it or not. It actually
should be a matter of joy, because we are on our journey home to our Father’s
house. We should then, the author says, throw off everything that hinders us. Sin
is the greatest evil because through it we miss our way completely. Jesus shows us how to live. He is the perfect
human being. Life is a matter of faith and Jesus teaches us how to live by
faith. He was deluged with hardships and obstacles and yet he kept his vision
clear and fixed on his Father. He overcame temptation and sin through prayer
and faith. We must avoid sin even at the
cost of our lives. This we can do only through the grace of God. Grace is given
as a result of prayer.
Psalm
Psalm
21:26-28,30-32
They shall praise you, Lord, those who
seek you.
My vows I will pay before those who fear
him.
The poor shall eat and shall have their
fill.
They shall praise the Lord, those who
seek him.
May their hearts live for ever and ever!
They shall praise you, Lord, those who
seek you.
All the earth shall remember and return
to the Lord,
all families of the nations worship
before him;
They shall worship him, all the mighty
of the earth;
before him shall bow all who go down to
the dust.
They shall praise you, Lord, those who
seek you.
And my soul shall live for him, my
children serve him.
They shall tell of the Lord to
generations yet to come,
declare his faithfulness to peoples yet
unborn:
‘These things the Lord has done.’
They shall praise you, Lord, those who
seek you.
____________________
Gospel
Acclamation
Jn14:6
Alleluia, alleluia!
I am the Way, the Truth and the Life,
says the Lord;
No one can come to the Father except
through me.
Alleluia!
Or
Mt8:17
Alleluia, alleluia!
He took our sicknesses away,
and carried our diseases for us.
Alleluia!
____________________
Gospel
Mark
5:21-43
When Jesus had crossed in the boat to
the other side, a large crowd gathered round him and he stayed by the lakeside.
Then one of the synagogue officials came up, Jairus by name, and seeing him,
fell at his feet and pleaded with him earnestly, saying, ‘My little daughter is
desperately sick. Do come and lay your hands on her to make her better and save
her life.’ Jesus went with him and a large crowd followed him; they were
pressing all round him.
Now
there was a woman who had suffered from a haemorrhage for twelve years; after
long and painful treatment under various doctors, she spent all she had without
being any the better for it, in fact, she was getting worse. She had heard
about Jesus, and she came up behind him through the crowd and touched his
cloak. ‘If I can touch even his clothes,’ she had told herself ‘I shall be well
again.’ And the source of the bleeding dried up instantly, and she felt in
herself that she was cured of her complaint. Immediately aware that power had
gone out from him, Jesus turned round in the crowd and said, ‘Who touched my clothes?’
His disciples said to him, ‘You see how the crowd is pressing round you and yet
you say, “Who touched me?”’ But he continued to look all round to see who had
done it. Then the woman came forward, frightened and trembling because she knew
what had happened to her, and she fell at his feet and told him the whole
truth. ‘My daughter,’ he said ‘your faith has restored you to health; go in
peace and be free from your complaint.’
While
he was still speaking some people arrived from the house of the synagogue
official to say, ‘Your daughter is dead: why put the Master to any further
trouble?’ But Jesus had overheard this remark of theirs and he said to the
official, ‘Do not be afraid; only have faith.’ And he allowed no one to go with
him except Peter and James and John the brother of James. So they came to the
official’s house and Jesus noticed all the commotion, with people weeping and
wailing unrestrainedly. He went in and said to them, ‘Why all this commotion
and crying? The child is not dead, but asleep.’ But they laughed at him. So he
turned them all out and, taking with him the child’s father and mother and his
own companions, he went into the place where the child lay. And taking the
child by the hand he said to her, ‘Talitha, kum!’ which means, ‘Little girl, I
tell you to get up.’ The little girl got up at once and began to walk about,
for she was twelve years old. At this they were overcome with astonishment, and
he ordered them strictly not to let anyone know about it, and told them to give
her something to eat.
A ruler comes to
him. He is desperate. That is why he comes to Jesus. Would he have come
otherwise? Though he belonged to the Establishment, he knew in his heart that
only Jesus could save his daughter. There was no hope with the ‘teachers of
religion’. Nothing better could have happened than that his daughter would
become so sick and be about to die. It brought him to Jesus and to faith in
him. While on his way, a woman with bleeding comes to Jesus. She is an outcast
and unclean because of her ailment. Jesus heals her too but wants to know her.
He welcomes her and commends her faith. Both stories show Jesus’ power over
sickness and death and that he accepts everyone who has faith, high and low.
All are precious to him. You are precious. Do you have the same trust in Jesus
as they did?
Wednesday 6
February 2013
First reading
Hebrews
12:4-7,11-15
In the fight against sin, you have not
yet had to keep fighting to the point of death.
Have
you forgotten that encouraging text in which you are addressed as sons? My
son, when the Lord corrects you, do not treat it lightly; but do not get
discouraged when he reprimands you. For the Lord trains the ones that he loves
and he punishes all those that he acknowledges as his sons. Suffering is
part of your training; God is treating you as his sons. Has there ever been any
son whose father did not train him? Of course, any punishment is most painful
at the time, and far from pleasant; but later, in those on whom it has been
used, it bears fruit in peace and goodness. So hold up your limp arms and
steady your trembling knees and smooth out the path you tread; then
the injured limb will not be wrenched, it will grow strong again.
Always
be wanting peace with all people, and the holiness without which no one can
ever see the Lord. Be careful that no one is deprived of the grace of God and
that no root of bitterness should begin to grow and make trouble; this
can poison a whole community.
We
must realize that God is always active in our lives. We must not think that
heaven is something radically different from this life. We are already
experiencing the life of God within us. We are already the children of God. There
is no essential difference between this life and the life to come. This life is
a life of faith. That is a life of vision. Now we are growing, as does a child
in the womb. God is actively preparing us for the life of vision through
everything that happens in this life. Since we have not yet reached the goal of
our existence, life may appear difficult and at best not perfectly fulfilled. If
we cooperate with God, then he will form us according to the image of his only
Son, fit for life with Him.
Psalm
Psalm
102:1-2,13-14,17-18
The love of the Lord is everlasting upon
those who hold him in fear.
My soul, give thanks to the Lord
all my being, bless his holy name.
My soul, give thanks to the Lord
and never forget all his blessings.
The love of the Lord is everlasting upon
those who hold him in fear.
As a father has compassion on his sons,
the Lord has pity on those who fear him;
for he knows of what we are made,
he remembers that we are dust.
The love of the Lord is everlasting upon
those who hold him in fear.
But the love of the Lord is everlasting
upon those who hold him in fear;
his justice reaches out to children’s
children
when they keep his covenant in truth.
The love of the Lord is everlasting upon
those who hold him in fear.
____________________
Gospel
Acclamation
Mt4:4
Alleluia, alleluia!
Man does not live on bread alone,
but on every word that comes from the
mouth of God.
Alleluia!
Or
Jn10:27
Alleluia, alleluia!
The sheep that belong to me listen to my
voice,
says the Lord,
I know them and they follow me.
Alleluia!
____________________
Gospel
Mark
6:1-6
Jesus went to his home town and his
disciples accompanied him. With the coming of the sabbath he began teaching in
the synagogue and most of them were astonished when they heard him. They said, ‘Where
did the man get all this? What is this wisdom that has been granted him, and
these miracles that are worked through him? This is the carpenter, surely, the
son of Mary, the brother of James and Joset and Jude and Simon? His sisters,
too, are they not here with us?’ And they would not accept him. And Jesus said
to them, ‘A prophet is only despised in his own country, among his own
relations and in his own house’; and he could work no miracle there, though he
cured a few sick people by laying his hands on them. He was amazed at their
lack of faith.
The
Unrecognized God
The disciples follow Jesus. They are
to learn from him and then continue his work. We are to do the same. Jesus
comes to Nazareth Galilee .
He can preach powerfully, do works of power. They are amazed. How could he have
learnt all this in such a short while? They are fixed in their opinion of him
and cannot take his transformation. We must beware of God. He comes in the most
unlikely of forms. We too have our views of what God is like but he will not
conform to them. He comes under the appearance of a piece of bread, a drop of
wine, an old man or a sick and poverty-stricken woman, or an orphaned child. He
can speak through anyone and he does. Are you able to recognize him then?
Thursday 7th February
First reading
Hebrews
12:18-19,21-24
What you have come to is nothing known
to the senses: not a blazing fire, or a gloom turning to total darkness, or a
storm; or trumpeting thunder or the great voice speaking which made everyone
that heard it beg that no more should be said to them. The whole scene was so
terrible that Moses said: I am afraid, and was trembling with fright. But what
you have come to is Mount Zion and the city of the living God, the heavenly
Jerusalem where the millions of angels have gathered for the festival, with the
whole Church in which everyone is a ‘first-born son’ and a citizen of heaven.
You have come to God himself, the supreme Judge, and been placed with spirits
of the saints who have been made perfect; and to Jesus, the mediator who brings
a new covenant and a blood for purification which pleads more insistently than
Abel’s.
The Holy Spirit has been poured into our
hearts, St. Paul tells us and he enables us to call God with the familiar title
of Abba which means ‘Dad’. We can
approach more simply and with infinitely great confidence than a child may
approach a father who is loving. This is what we need to understand. This is
the Good News.
Psalm
Psalm
47:2-4,9-11
O God, we ponder your love within your
temple.
The Lord is great and worthy to be
praised
in the city of our God.
His holy mountain rises in beauty,
the joy of all the earth.
O God, we ponder your love within your
temple.
Mount Zion, true pole of the earth,
the Great King’s city!
God, in the midst of its citadels,
has shown himself its stronghold.
O God, we ponder your love within your
temple.
As we have heard, so we have seen
in the city of our God,
in the city of the Lord of hosts
which God upholds for ever.
O God, we ponder your love within your
temple.
O God, we ponder your love
within your temple.
Your praise, O God, like your name
reaches the ends of the earth.
With justice your right hand is filled.
O God, we ponder your love within your
temple.
Gospel
Acclamation
Jn15:15
Alleluia, alleluia!
I call you friends, says the Lord,
because I have made known to you
everything I have learnt from my Father.
Alleluia!
Or
Mk1:15
Alleluia, alleluia!
The kingdom of God is close at hand:
repent and believe the Good News.
Alleluia!
____________________
Gospel
Mark
6:7-13
Jesus summoned the Twelve and began to
send them out in pairs giving them authority over the unclean spirits. And he
instructed them to take nothing for the journey except a staff – no bread,
no haversack, no coppers for their purses. They were to wear sandals but, he
added, ‘Do not take a spare tunic.’ And he said to them, ‘If you enter a house
anywhere, stay there until you leave the district. And if any place does not
welcome you and people refuse to listen to you, as you walk away shake off the
dust from under your feet as a sign to them.’ So they set off to preach
repentance; and they cast out many devils, and anointed many sick people with
oil and cured them.
Your
Mission , His Mission
The disciples are to lead people on a
journey. They need then a staff, as did Moses, to overcome evil. Their staff is
the Cross. Like the Israelites, they need sandals symbolic of their journey to
the Kingdom. They are to depend solely on God. Jesus himself will provide their
food, bread from heaven. They must not take supplies with them. Success does
not come from worldly power and wealth. All they need is faith in the One who
sent them. They are to abide in Christ. Then they will bear much fruit. Like
the apostles, they will cast out demons and heal the sick in body and spirit.
The condition for entering the Kingdom is to repent of sin. The Christian life
is an apostolate – Jesus sends us to
continue his work. Do you see your life
as continuing the work of Jesus, the Saviour?
Friday 8
February 2013
First reading
Hebrews
13:1-8
Continue to love each other like brothers,
and remember always to welcome strangers, for by doing this, some people have
entertained angels without knowing it. Keep in mind those who are in prison, as
though you were in prison with them; and those who are being badly treated,
since you too are in the one body. Marriage is to be honoured by all, and
marriages are to be kept undefiled, because fornicators and adulterers will
come under God’s judgement. Put greed out of your lives and be content with
whatever you have; God himself has said: I will not fail you or desert you,
and so we can say with confidence: With the Lord to help me, I fear nothing:
what can man do to me?
Remember
your leaders, who preached the word of God to you, and as you reflect on the
outcome of their lives, imitate their faith. Jesus Christ is the same today as
he was yesterday and as he will be for ever.
I will not fail you or desert
you. We can put our trust in God because he is always faithful to what he is. He
is our Father and a Father more caring and loving than any father is on earth
however good. We are to learn to have confidence in him. When we rest in the
love of God (Ps 131) we are able to love everyone as the author tells us to.
Psalm
Psalm
26:1,3,5,8-9
The Lord is my light and my help.
The Lord is my light and my help;
whom shall I fear?
The Lord is the stronghold of my life;
before whom shall I shrink?
The Lord is my light and my help.
Though an army encamp against me
my heart would not fear.
Though war break out against me
even then would I trust.
The Lord is my light and my help.
For there he keeps me safe in his tent
in the day of evil.
He hides me in the shelter of his tent,
on a rock he sets me safe.
The Lord is my light and my help.
It is your face, O Lord, that I seek;
hide not your face.
Dismiss not your servant in anger;
you have been my help.
The Lord is my light and my help.
____________________
Gospel
Acclamation
cf.Lk8:15
Alleluia, alleluia!
Blessed are those who,
with a noble and generous heart,
take the word of God to themselves
and yield a harvest through their
perseverance.
Alleluia!
____________________
Gospel
Mark
6:14-29
King Herod had heard about Jesus, since
by now his name was well-known. Some were saying, ‘John the Baptist has risen
from the dead, and that is why miraculous powers are at work in him.’ Others
said, ‘He is Elijah’; others again, ‘He is a prophet, like the prophets we used
to have.’ But when Herod heard this he said, ‘It is John whose head I cut off;
he has risen from the dead.’
Now
it was this same Herod who had sent to have John arrested, and had him chained
up in prison because of Herodias, his brother Philip’s wife whom he had
married. For John had told Herod, ‘It is against the law for you to have your
brother’s wife.’ As for Herodias, she was furious with him and wanted to kill
him; but she was not able to, because Herod was afraid of John, knowing him to
be a good and holy man, and gave him his protection. When he had heard him
speak he was greatly perplexed, and yet he liked to listen to him.
An
opportunity came on Herod’s birthday when he gave a banquet for the nobles of
his court, for his army officers and for the leading figures in Galilee. When
the daughter of this same Herodias came in and danced, she delighted Herod and
his guests; so the king said to the girl, ‘Ask me anything you like and I will
give it you.’ And he swore her an oath, ‘I will give you anything you ask, even
half my kingdom.’ She went out and said to her mother, ‘What shall I ask for?’
She replied, ‘The head of John the Baptist’ The girl hurried straight back to
the king and made her request, ‘I want you to give me John the Baptist’s head,
here and now, on a dish.’ The king was deeply distressed but, thinking of the
oaths he had sworn and of his guests, he was reluctant to break his word to
her. So the king at once sent one of the bodyguard with orders to bring John’s
head. The man went off and beheaded him in prison; then he brought the head on
a dish and gave it to the girl, and the girl gave it to her mother. When John’s
disciples heard about this, they came and took his body and laid it in a tomb.
Where Do You Stand?
Jesus lives among people. They see and hear everything he
does. Yet, no one understands him. Some think he is John the Baptist, others
Elijah or a prophet from of old. Who do you think he is? What actual place does
he have in your life? Herod, worldly king though he is, is troubled by a guilty
conscience. He thinks Jesus is John risen to haunt him. Can anyone wash his or
her sins away? We may try to suppress our conscience but we cannot completely.
It returns in one way or another. Those who love the truth listen to Jesus’
Word. Those who have married the pleasures and treasures of this world will
mock him, as Herod will do. Herod is symbolic of the world. He killed John who
opposed him. The world will kill Jesus because Jesus too will condemn its lust
and hypocrisy. On whose side do you stand?
Saturday 9
February 2013
First reading
Hebrews
13:15-17,20-21
Through Christ, let us offer God an
unending sacrifice of praise, a verbal sacrifice that is offered every time we
acknowledge his name. Keep doing good works and sharing your resources, for
these are sacrifices that please God.
Obey
your leaders and do as they tell you, because they must give an account of the
way they look after your souls; make this a joy for them to do, and not a
grief – you yourselves would be the losers. I pray that the God of peace,
who brought our Lord Jesus back from the dead to become the great Shepherd of the
sheep by the blood that sealed an eternal covenant, may make you ready to do
his will in any kind of good action; and turn us all into whatever is
acceptable to himself through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory for ever and ever,
Amen.
Every time we call on Jesus as
Lord with all our hearts, we pray in the Holy Spirit (1Cor 12:3). This is the
sacrifice of praise which is pleasing to God, but it is insufficient. We must
also do good works and share what we have with those who are in need.
Notice that God is a God of
peace. If we are in God, then we will enjoy peace in our hearts. Notice too
that our life is the work of God within us. To allow him to do his work through
us we must surrender to him daily.
Psalm
Psalm
22:1-6
The Lord is my shepherd: there is
nothing I shall want.
The Lord is my shepherd;
there is nothing I shall want.
Fresh and green are the pastures
where he gives me repose.
Near restful waters he leads me,
to revive my drooping spirit.
The Lord is my shepherd: there is
nothing I shall want.
He guides me along the right path;
he is true to his name.
If I should walk in the valley of
darkness
no evil would I fear.
You are there with your crook and your
staff;
with these you give me comfort.
The Lord is my shepherd: there is
nothing I shall want.
You have prepared a banquet for me
in the sight of my foes.
My head you have anointed with oil;
my cup is overflowing.
The Lord is my shepherd: there is
nothing I shall want.
Surely goodness and kindness shall
follow me
all the days of my life.
In the Lord’s own house shall I dwell
for ever and ever.
The Lord is my shepherd: there is
nothing I shall want.
____________________
Gospel
Acclamation
Jn10:27
Alleluia, alleluia!
The sheep that belong to me listen to my
voice,
says the Lord,
I know them and they follow me.
Alleluia!
____________________
Gospel
Mark
6:30-34
The apostles rejoined Jesus and told him
all they had done and taught. Then he said to them, ‘You must come away to some
lonely place all by yourselves and rest for a while’; for there were so many
coming and going that the apostles had no time even to eat. So they went off in
a boat to a lonely place where they could be by themselves. But people saw them
going, and many could guess where; and from every town they all hurried to the
place on foot and reached it before them. So as he stepped ashore he saw a
large crowd; and he took pity on them because they were like sheep without a
shepherd, and he set himself to teach them at some length.
Time For What We Love
Jesus needed to find time to be alone
with his Father. Mark teaches us through the actions of Jesus that anyone
engaged in his work needs to find the time also. Disciples are to spend time
with Jesus. Without this, they will have no power to serve. The apostles and
Jesus had no time even to eat. People kept them so busy. Yet Jesus said, “come
aside”. No one is too busy to pray. We all find time for what we love. It is
not that we have no time. We have no love. Jesus finds that the crowds have
arrived there before them. He has compassion on them. They are like sheep
without a shepherd. Mark will teach us that Jesus is their Shepherd. He will
provide them with food. Jesus alone is the source of living bread. Without him
we waste away. Are you strong or weak?
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