Thursday January 13

Thursday of 1st Week in Ordinary Time

If I Could Only Touch Him

 

Introduction

Among the Jews, the Ark of the Covenant was the sign of God’s presence. This is why as the people moved, the ark moved with them. God was where his people were. Also in their clashes with the Philistines, they wanted God to be on their side for their Jihad, their holy war, but they forgot that they would also have to live as God’s people, otherwise the presence of the ark would be without value.

There is the story of the father whose child had been born badly deformed. He was disheartened and could not love it. But one day he said: “If I can only kiss and touch it, then I can completely accept it.” And that is what he did. Jesus did not only heal the leper but he touched him, showing that he loved and accepted the man completely.

 

Opening Prayer

God, our Father,
you let your Son Jesus Christ,
share the lot of outcasts
and bear the sufferings of all.
Let us become like him,
so that among us no one stays an outcast,
no sin remains unforgivable,
no misery is a cause for rejection.
Make us with your Son,
people who lift up the despised
with words of welcome
and deeds of encouragement.

We ask this through Christ, our Lord.

 

Reading 1 1 Sm 4:1-11

The Philistines gathered for an attack on Israel.
Israel went out to engage them in battle and camped at Ebenezer,
while the Philistines camped at Aphek.
The Philistines then drew up in battle formation against Israel.
After a fierce struggle Israel was defeated by the Philistines,
who slew about four thousand men on the battlefield.
When the troops retired to the camp, the elders of Israel said,
“Why has the LORD permitted us to be defeated today
by the Philistines?
Let us fetch the ark of the LORD from Shiloh
that it may go into battle among us
and save us from the grasp of our enemies.”

So the people sent to Shiloh and brought from there
the ark of the LORD of hosts, who is enthroned upon the cherubim.
The two sons of Eli, Hophni and Phinehas, were with the ark of God.
When the ark of the LORD arrived in the camp,
all Israel shouted so loudly that the earth resounded.
The Philistines, hearing the noise of shouting, asked,
“What can this loud shouting in the camp of the Hebrews mean?”
On learning that the ark of the LORD had come into the camp,
the Philistines were frightened.
They said, “Gods have come to their camp.”
They said also, “Woe to us! This has never happened before. Woe to us!
Who can deliver us from the power of these mighty gods?
These are the gods that struck the Egyptians
with various plagues and with pestilence.
Take courage and be manly, Philistines;
otherwise you will become slaves to the Hebrews,
as they were your slaves.
So fight manfully!”
The Philistines fought and Israel was defeated;
every man fled to his own tent.
It was a disastrous defeat,
in which Israel lost thirty thousand foot soldiers.
The ark of God was captured,
and Eli’s two sons, Hophni and Phinehas, were among the dead.

 

Responsorial Psalm Ps 44:10-11, 14-15, 24-25

(27b) Redeem us, Lord, because of your mercy.
Yet now you have cast us off and put us in disgrace,
and you go not forth with our armies.
You have let us be driven back by our foes;
those who hated us plundered us at will.
R. Redeem us, Lord, because of your mercy.
You made us the reproach of our neighbours,
the mockery and the scorn of those around us.
You made us a byword among the nations,
a laughingstock among the peoples.
R. Redeem us, Lord, because of your mercy.
Why do you hide your face,
forgetting our woe and our oppression?
For our souls are bowed down to the dust,
our bodies are pressed to the earth.
R. Redeem us, Lord, because of your mercy.

 

Alleluia See Mt 4:23

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

 

Gospel Mk 1:40-45

A leper came to him and kneeling down begged him and said,
“If you wish, you can make me clean.”
Moved with pity, he stretched out his hand,
touched the leper, and said to him,
“I do will it. Be made clean.”
The leprosy left him immediately, and he was made clean.
Then, warning him sternly, he dismissed him at once.
Then he said to him, “See that you tell no one anything,
but go, show yourself to the priest
and offer for your cleansing what Moses prescribed;
that will be proof for them.”
The man went away and began to publicize the whole matter.
He spread the report abroad
so that it was impossible for Jesus to enter a town openly.
He remained outside in deserted places,
and people kept coming to him from everywhere.

 

Intercessions:

–       With all those who seek pardon and reconciliation, we cry out to you, Lord. With all who have found forgiveness, we praise you Lord:

–       With all who wail day and night in their loneliness and misery, we cry out to you Lord. With all those who have found friends to help, we praise you Lord:

–       With all who hide their suffering, we cry to you, Lord. With all who share with others and uplift them, we praise you, Lord:

 

Prayer over the Gifts

Merciful Father,
with bread and wine we remember
how you raised us up
above our guilt and fears and our isolation.

Dispose us to share with all
your joy, your acceptance, and affection
on account of him who shared our poverty
and made himself weak and humble with us,
Jesus Christ our Lord.

 

Prayer after Communion

Loving, merciful Father,
at the table of your Son, we have learned
to be present to one another
as he has been present among us here
with a love that is discreet and reviving
like a breath of fresh air.
On account of him, who has taken away
the hardness of our hearts,
dispose us to share our riches and our poverty,
to receive one another and from each other
and to touch one another with our love.
We ask this through Christ, our Lord.

 

Blessing

How very happy our community would be if we could fully accept one another just as we are, without condemning, without judging or begrudging, without looking down on anyone, without trying to create one another into our own image and likeness. Let us build up one another with the blessing of Almighty God, the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit.

 

Commentary:

Messianic Truth

Jesus commands the healed man to keep the event a secret. Curiously, he does not impose this Messianic Secret when he is outside Israel territory; nor does he order silence anymore after the manifestation at the Transfiguration. Perhaps this is because the Jews had a long-standing culturally conditioned expectation of a warrior-type Messiah. They were not ready for the truth that would destabilize and disorient them. The truth should mature within the holy privacy of individual hearts until the time is ready for its communal birth, which may still be destabilizing, but for better than for worse. Thus, Jesus first reveals himself to the disciples and to some chosen individuals before he publicly declares himself to be the One. He would do so publicly, much closer towards the end of his earthly ministry. What Truth of God is most destabilizing for you and why?

 

Reflection taken from Bible Diary 2022;

written by Fr.Paulson Velyannoor, CMF