Friday January 21

Friday of 2nd Week in Ordinary Time

 

AGNES, Virgin and Martyr 

Few saints have been as popular in Rome as the twelve or thirteen-year old girl martyr St. Agnes. At a time of massive defections from the faith, in 305 she endured torture with idealism and patient faithfulness. Even the young can make hard decisions. As her name comes either from Gr. agnos (pure) or from L. agnus (lamb), she is celebrated  today by the pope blessing unblemished lambs from whose wool the pallium (liturgical vestment of archbishops) will be woven. 

 

First Reading : 1 Sm 24:3-21

When Saul came back after dealing with the Philistines, he was told, “David is now in the wilderness of En Gedi.” Saul took three companies—the best he could find in all Israel—and set out in search of David and his men in the region of Wild Goat Rocks. He came to some sheep pens along the road. There was a cave there and Saul went in to relieve himself. David and his men were huddled far back in the same cave. David’s men whispered to him, “Can you believe it? This is the day God was talking about when he said, ‘I’ll put your enemy in your hands. You can do whatever you want with him.’” Quiet as a cat, David crept up and cut off a piece of Saul’s royal robe.

 Immediately, he felt guilty. He said to his men, “God forbid that I should have done this to my master, God’s anointed, that I should so much as raise a finger against him. He’s God’s anointed!” David held his men in check with these words and wouldn’t let them pounce on Saul. Saul got up, left the cave, and went on down the road.

 Then David stood at the mouth of the cave and called to Saul, “My master! My king!” Saul looked back. David fell to his knees and bowed in reverence. He called out, “Why do you listen to those who say ‘David is out to get you’? This very day with your very own eyes you have seen that just now in the cave God put you in my hands. My men wanted me to kill you, but I wouldn’t do it. I told them that I won’t lift a finger against my master—he’s God’s anointed. Oh, my father, look at this, look at this piece that I cut from your robe. I could have cut you—killed you!—but I didn’t. Look at the evidence! I’m not against you. I’m no rebel. I haven’t sinned against you, and yet you’re hunting me down to kill me. Let’s decide which of us is in the right. God may avenge me, but it is in his hands, not mine. An old proverb says, ‘Evil deeds come from evil people.’ So be assured that my hand won’t touch you.

 “What does the king of Israel think he’s doing? Who do you think you’re chasing? A dead dog? A flea? God is our judge. He’ll decide who is right. Oh, that he would look down right now, decide right now—and set me free of you!”

 When David had finished saying all this, Saul said, “Can this be the voice of my son David?” and he wept in loud sobs. “You’re the one in the right, not me,” he continued. “You’ve heaped good on me; I’ve dumped evil on you. And now you’ve done it again—treated me generously. Godput me in your hands and you didn’t kill me. Why? When a man meets his enemy, does he send him down the road with a blessing? May God give you a bonus of blessings for what you’ve done for me today! I know now beyond doubt that you will rule as king. The kingdom of Israel is already in your grasp! Now promise me under God that you will not kill off my family or wipe my name off the books.”

 

Gospel Mk 3:13-19

He climbed a mountain and invited those he wanted with him. They climbed together. He settled on twelve, and designated them apostles. The plan was that they would be with him, and he would send them out to proclaim the Word and give them authority to banish demons. These are the Twelve:

Simon (Jesus later named him Peter, meaning “Rock”),

James, son of Zebedee,

John, brother of James (Jesus nicknamed the Zebedee brothers Boanerges, meaning “Sons of Thunder”),

Andrew,

Philip,

Bartholomew,

Matthew,

Thomas,

James, son of Alphaeus,

Thaddaeus,

Simon the Canaanite,

Judas Iscariot (who betrayed him).

 

Prayer

God our Father,
youth and innocence are no obstacle
to understand the message of your Son
and to follow him with courage.
Let the quiet strength of St. Agnes inspire us
not to be ashamed of your Son
and of his message of life and freedom
even in the face of contradiction.
As we bear the name of your Son,
help us to be ever faithful to him,
for he is our Lord for ever. Amen.

 

Reflection:

Move closer to Him to see, hear and love Him better.

Today the Church celebrates the Memorial of Saint Agnes, a third century Virgin and Martyr in Rome. At the age of 12, Saint Agnes endured torture and death because she refused the marriage proposal from someone in power. She had accepted Jesus as her spouse and she preferred death instead of being unfaithful to her beloved Lord Jesus, even at the tender age of 12. She sacrificed her life for what she believed in.

God wants us on his side, and that is why he calls us, so that we may be with him and that we may be his own. St. Agnes understood the meaning of God’s love for her. The Gospel today presents us with the call of the disciples, on the mountain.

Jesus calls those whom he wants. They are not the smartest, not the most influential, and certainly not the most knowledgeable people of the society. But he choses the most ordinary ones. He wants them to be with him and to send out.

To be a disciple of Jesus is to be with him on the holy mountain of prayer and meditation of his Word. But neither he nor the apostles stayed forever on the mountain; they “went out” to be among the people. Every disciple is called not only to be with Jesus but to go out to others. St Catherine of Siena said “Prayer and action are like our two feet: we need them both to be a disciple of Jesus”.

The gospel accounts of the call of the apostles are always a puzzle. Jesus spent time in prayer on the mountain before choosing the 12. That was an extraordinary selection process which defied worldly norms for an enterprise to begin with. But we have the excuse that it is Jesus, the Son of God, who after a night-long prayer chooses his men and therefore, he knew their potential. But then, how come Judas Iscariot also got selected? Was he a wrong choice? A theologian had an interesting answer: “I am not sure if Judas was a wrong choice, but I have an even harder question: Why did Jesus choose me?”

We have perhaps been too ready to write off Judas. But if Judas is a complete write-off, then so are we! There was one tragic mistake that he made… that was to walk away from the Lord. The reason for Jesus to choose his disciples was that they would remain with him, but at one point Judas chose to walk away.

Whenever we hear the list of those chosen by Christ, we can do the exercise of adding our name to that list. Feel his loving gaze stops on us, feel being captivated by his smile, and hear how He calls us. Get up, get closer to Him, and sit close, to see Him better, to hear Him better, to love Him better.

 

Video available on Youtube: Move closer to Him to see, hear and love Him better.