Wednesday January 20

Second Week In Ordinary Time

 

DOING GOOD ON THE LORD’S DAY  

 

Introduction

      Hebrews gives us an example of rabbinical reasoning that compares the absence about data of the origin of Melchizedek with the divine origin of Jesus. The priest Melchizedek comes as if from nowhere, without any levitical, human genealogy mentioned. Likewise, Jesus has no levitical, human genealogy; he is eternal.

      We sometimes reduce our religion to a matter of casuistic laws: Is it permitted to heal on Sundays? When does it become a mortal sin if I am late for Mass? Is it wrong if I do not raise my hands for the Our Father? We sometimes behave like immature kids. God wants us to grow up in our faith. Where is the good news of Jesus? Where is our love for the Lord and for people?

 

Opening Prayer

Gracious and holy God,
you have chosen us to be
your kingdom of peace and mature love.
But we have to acknowledge with shame
that there is still much room for growth.
Make our love richer, more sensitive;
Complete the work you have begun in us,
that we may have a permanent place in your heart
and reflect the adult, healing goodness
of Jesus Christ, our Lord.

Reading 1: Heb 7:1-3, 15-17

Melchizedek, king of Salem and priest of God Most High,
met Abraham as he returned from his defeat of the kings
and blessed him.
And Abraham apportioned to him a tenth of everything.
His name first means righteous king,
and he was also “king of Salem,” that is, king of peace.
Without father, mother, or ancestry,
without beginning of days or end of life,
thus made to resemble the Son of God, he remains a priest forever.

It is even more obvious if another priest is raised up
after the likeness of Melchizedek, who has become so,
not by a law expressed in a commandment concerning physical descent
but by the power of a life that cannot be destroyed.
For it is testified:

You are a priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek.

 

Responsorial Psalm: Ps 110:1, 2, 3, 4

(4b) You are a priest for ever, in the line of Melchizedek.
The LORD said to my Lord: “Sit at my right hand
till I make your enemies your footstool.”
R. You are a priest for ever, in the line of Melchizedek.
The scepter of your power the LORD will stretch forth from Zion:
“Rule in the midst of your enemies.”
R. You are a priest for ever, in the line of Melchizedek.
“Yours is princely power in the day of your birth, in holy splendor;
before the daystar, like the dew, I have begotten you.”
R. You are a priest for ever, in the line of Melchizedek.
The LORD has sworn, and he will not repent:
“You are a priest forever, according to the order of Melchizedek.”
R. You are a priest for ever, in the line of Melchizedek.

 

Alleluia: Mt 4:23

Alleluia, alleluia.
Jesus preached the Gospel of the Kingdom
and cured every disease among the people.
R. Alleluia, alleluia.

 

Gospel: Mk 3:1-6

Jesus entered the synagogue.
There was a man there who had a withered hand.
They watched Jesus closely
to see if he would cure him on the sabbath
so that they might accuse him.
He said to the man with the withered hand,
“Come up here before us.”
Then he said to the Pharisees,
“Is it lawful to do good on the sabbath rather than to do evil,
to save life rather than to destroy it?”
But they remained silent.
Looking around at them with anger
and grieved at their hardness of heart,
Jesus said to the man, “Stretch out your hand.”
He stretched it out and his hand was restored.
The Pharisees went out and immediately took counsel
with the Herodians against him to put him to death.

 

Intercessions:

–         That people everywhere may be given the time to rest and recover from the pressure of their work, and be given the opportunity to worship God and help people, we pray:

–         That the faithful who go to Mass on Sundays will also live according to the Gospel on weekdays, we pray:

–         That the Eucharistic celebration on Sundays may be to all Christian communities a source of great joy as we deeply encounter the Lord and receive the strength to follow him on his ways, we pray:

 

Prayer over the Gifts

Our healing God,
you set the table of your Son
not merely for a select few
but for all, for the sick and the suffering,
for the weak and the lonely.
Let Jesus’ love, his acceptance of people,
his spirit of sharing and healing be ours
in all our Christian communities.
Teach us to set the table of ourselves,
as Jesus did, your Son and our brother,
who lives with you and stays with us,
now and for ever.

 

Prayer after Communion

Our saving and healing God,
we thank you for uniting us
at the table of your Son in this Eucharistic celebration.
Let the Christian community be
to all people what you are to us:
love and healing, peace and joy
and a surprisingly generous gift,
a gift freely given and never regretted.
We ask this through Christ, our Lord.

 

Blessing

When did you visit me? Perhaps, the best day to visit our brother Jesus in the sick is Sunday, the day of the Lord! Bring God’s healing to people, with the blessing of Almighty God, the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit.

 

Commentary

Pride

Of all of the sins that plague us, pride may be one of the most common and among the worst. I know how easily I fall a prey to it. It is so easy – almost reflexive – to lash out against someone who criticizes us without bothering to consider whether the other person actually has a point. It’s hard, so very hard for me to admit that perhaps I was wrong, or that someone else’s idea is better than mine.

The Pharisees are getting upset because a miracle takes place and it is on the “wrong day.” Really!! Instead of being in awe and sharing the joy of this man no longer plagued with a “withered hand” – the leaders of the society are upset for a lame reason: this is done on the Sabbath!

The Pharisees’ actions were results of sinful pride. They were upper class citizens of their time. They couldn’t stomach the popularity and wisdom of a certain Jesus, of humble origins who taught with authority and performed mighty works. Instead of thinking about the deeper significance of a man who could do such things, they turn red-faced because their pride is wounded. It’s so easy for us to do the same thing; to ignore the significant signs around and instead focus on how significant and important we are.

We live in a time where the Church and its Faith are under scrutiny. The teachings of the Church are often ridiculed and rejected as absurdities. The society is more affiliated to what is “politically correct” and fails to stand for what is morally correct. The silence of the crowd in the Synagogue angered Jesus. They refused to take a stand whether it was right or wrong to save life on the sabbath. Instead, they joined hands with the Herodians, the political powers groups to destroy Jesus. Today what happens in the society is no different from what happened to Jesus. The Gospel today invites us to look around, to see what needs there are, and do the right thing, like Jesus did.

It is the third day of the week of prayer for Christian Unity. To form a single body: “Love one another as I have loved you” (Jn 15, 12b), is today’s motto. Today is also the Feast of St. Sebastian a Roman martyr of the 3rd Century. He is venerated as a protector from plague and as a patron of plague victims. Let us invoke his special intercession for deliverance from this pandemic and healing of all those who are suffering due to Covid 19.