Saturday January 23

Second Week In Ordinary Time

 

Hungry for the Message 

 

Introduction

The Temple worship of the Old covenant could not save because it did not demand personal commitment of the one who sacrificed. But the sacrifice of Jesus was deep and total. He sacrificed himself. His blood brought us salvation.

The few verses of today’s Gospel: tell us no more than that the crowd was so eager to hear Jesus’ message that they left him and the disciples not even the time to eat.

 

Opening Prayer

Our saving God,
you have shown your people mercy
in your Son Jesus Christ.
May we belong to him,
that we may come to love him deeply
and in this way know him as he is,
and also know you as our Father.
We ask this through Christ our Lord.

 

Reading 1: Heb 9:2-3, 11-14

A tabernacle was constructed, the outer one,
in which were the lampstand, the table, and the bread of offering;
this is called the Holy Place.
Behind the second veil was the tabernacle called the Holy of Holies.

But when Christ came as high priest of the good things that have come to be,
passing through the greater and more perfect tabernacle not made by hands,
that is, not belonging to this creation,
he entered once for all into the sanctuary,
not with the blood of goats and calves but with his own Blood,
thus obtaining eternal redemption.
For if the blood of goats and bulls and the sprinkling of a heifer’s ashes
can sanctify those who are defiled
so that their flesh is cleansed,
how much more will the Blood of Christ,
who through the eternal spirit offered himself unblemished to God,
cleanse our consciences from dead works to worship the living God.

 

Responsorial Psalm: Ps 47:2-3, 6-7, 8-9

(6) God mounts his throne to shouts of joy: a blare of trumpets for the Lord.
All you peoples, clap your hands,
shout to God with cries of gladness,
For the LORD, the Most High, the awesome,
is the great king over all the earth.
R. God mounts his throne to shouts of joy: a blare of trumpets for the Lord.
God mounts his throne amid shouts of joy;
the LORD, amid trumpet blasts.
Sing praise to God, sing praise;
sing praise to our king, sing praise.
R. God mounts his throne to shouts of joy: a blare of trumpets for the Lord.
For king of all the earth is God:
sing hymns of praise.
God reigns over the nations,
God sits upon his holy throne.
R. God mounts his throne to shouts of joy: a blare of trumpets for the Lord.

 

Alleluia: Acts 16:14b

Alleluia, alleluia.

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

 

Gospel: Mk 3:20-21

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

 

Intercessions

–   For ourselves and our communities, that all of us may be less demanding but more attentive to one another and serve one another’s needs and more, we pray:

–   For the many who serve us in various needs, servants, repairmen, drivers, nurses, and all the others, too many to name, that we may be grateful to them, we pray:

–   For those wounded and belittled by our words and conduct, that they may forgive us and inspire us to respect others more, we pray:

 

Prayer over the Gifts

Father of our Lord Jesus Christ,
the disciples of Emmaus recognized your Son
in the breaking of bread.
Allow us to know him too
when here he breaks for us
the life-giving bread of the eucharist.
May knowing him mean for us too
to love him
and by loving him may we know him better.
We ask this in the name of Jesus the Lord

 

Prayer after Communion

God our Father,
in this eucharist we have begun
to know Jesus a bit better
because he has spoken to us
and shared himself with us at his table.
May we lead others to know him
as the saving Lord of all,
who has brought forgiveness and life,
and may we praise you through him
as our living God for ever and ever.

 

Blessing

The people left Jesus and his disciples no time to eat. How eager are we to know Jesus and his Good News? May we come to know him well; then we will also know well what our life is all about. May almighty God bless you, the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit.

 

Commentary

Gone Crazy

So radical is the novelty of Jesus that not even his own family understands him. They want to take him away, thinking that he was not mentally sound. They were scared of what Jesus was doing in their little world. His family was worried, perhaps also because of religious reasons. Jesus’ way of provoking the pharisees and the teachers of the law could put them in trouble too.

They had all the reasons to believe that Jesus had gone crazy. If not craziness, who would dare to question age-old traditions on sabbath and fasting antagonising the religious leaders of the time? Which sensible person would dare to choose a tax collector to be his close aid, together with a group of fishermen?

When we read the passage now, we feel sorry for the family members of Jesus for not understanding Jesus and his new teachings. But today, in the Church, do we not claim to be the family of Jesus? We the modern family of Jesus has a lot in common with his original family in Nazareth. Like them, We too fail to understand him.

When the Council of Vatican II was announced, many in this family believed that the Pope had gone crazy and struggled to stop him from convening the council. Many cardinals, bishops and leaders of the Church opposed the reforms suggested by the council. The Family of Jesus still fails to understand the compassionate, merciful face of Jesus.

When Pope Francis washed and kissed the feet of female prisoners on Holy Thursday, when he called for greater pastoral concern for the broken families, their children, and people of different sexual orientations, when he raised his concerns on care for our common home and migrants and refugees, many call him heretical. Some in this Family of Jesus still consider him not the rightful Pope or the Pope has gone crazy!

We may have concrete examples in our own families, and society where we live. Consider a vocation to the priesthood or to the consecrated life. How many vocations have had to fight against opposition from parents or friends.

These are moments to decide in whom we have trusted, in whom we have set our eyes (knowing that he looked at us first) and to remain faithful in his love. In our daily life, we also have moments of laziness, of tiredness, of feeling that what we do makes no sense. It is good to look back, to remember the moments lived close to the Lord and supported by his love. So that we walk forward, with great faith in the one who has called us.