Saturday January 22

 

 

Saturday of 2nd Week in Ordinary Time

Hungry for the Message 

 

Introduction

A messenger comes to announce to David that King Saul and his Son Jonathan have died in battle and David mourns them deeply, even though Saul had sought David’s life.

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: 2 Sm 1:1-4, 11-12, 19, 23-27

David returned from his defeat of the Amalekites

and spent two days in Ziklag.

On the third day a man came from Saul’s camp,

with his clothes torn and dirt on his head.

Going to David, he fell to the ground in homage.

David asked him, “Where do you come from?”

He replied, “I have escaped from the camp of the children of Israel.”

“Tell me what happened,” David bade him.

He answered that many of the soldiers had fled the battle

and that many of them had fallen and were dead,

among them Saul and his son Jonathan.

David seized his garments and rent them,

and all the men who were with him did likewise.

They mourned and wept and fasted until evening

for Saul and his son Jonathan,

and for the soldiers of the LORD of the clans of Israel,

because they had fallen by the sword.

“Alas! the glory of Israel, Saul,

slain upon your heights;

how can the warriors have fallen!

“Saul and Jonathan, beloved and cherished,

separated neither in life nor in death,

swifter than eagles, stronger than lions!

Women of Israel, weep over Saul,

who clothed you in scarlet and in finery,

who decked your attire with ornaments of gold.

“How can the warriors have fallen–

in the thick of the battle,

slain upon your heights!

“I grieve for you, Jonathan my brother!

most dear have you been to me;

more precious have I held love for you than love for women.

“How can the warriors have fallen,

the weapons of war have perished!”

 

Responsorial Psalm PS 80:2-3, 5-7

(4b) Let us see your face, Lord, and we shall be saved.

O shepherd of Israel, hearken,

O guide of the flock of Joseph!

From your throne upon the cherubim, shine forth

before Ephraim, Benjamin and Manasseh.

Rouse your power,

and come to save us.

Let us see your face, Lord, and we shall be saved.

O LORD of hosts, how long will you burn with anger

while your people pray?

You have fed them with the bread of tears

and given them tears to drink in ample measure.

You have left us to be fought over by our neighbors,

and our enemies mock us.

Let us see your face, Lord, and we shall be saved.

 

Alleluia SEE ACTS 16:14B

Alleluia, alleluia.

Open our hearts, O Lord,

to listen to the words of your Son.

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

loving him too

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:

Outliers

Today, we have the shortest gospel reading of the entire year, but one that speaks volumes about who we are!  We all long to be special and extraordinary but cannot risk our securities and step beyond ourselves; and for the same reason, we simply cannot bear someone else doing so! Thus, we love to normalize everything and everyone around us, so as to feel good about ourselves.  In other words, we hate outliers and cut them to size. A line from the movie Three Idiots captures this dynamic: “When our friends fail, we feel bad; when they succeed, we feel worse.” Jesus himself reminded his people that “no prophet is honoured among his own people.” No wonder the relatives of Jesus could not bear his growing uniqueness and popularity and, hence, had to label him “out of mind.” How do we treat the outliers in our families, religious communities, our little worlds?

 

Reflection taken from Bible Diary 2022;

written by Fr.Paulson Velyannoor, CMF