Wednesday January 26

 

 

Wednesday of 3rd Week in Ordinary Time

TITUS AND TIMOTHY

 

Introduction

Today, we celebrate two close associates of the apostle Paul. Paul put them in charge of Christian communities and wrote letters to them to tell them what is expected of leaders of Christian communities, especially how they should be servants and models of the people entrusted to them.

 

Opening Prayer

Lord our God,
Saints Timothy and Titus, assistants of St. Paul,
passed on the mighty Word of your Son
and tried to live by them.
Give to your Church credible leaders
who lead in living by the Word and life of Jesus.
Let their words stir our hearts
and bring us the new life
of Jesus Christ, our Lord.

Reading I: 2 Tm 1:1-8

Paul, an Apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God
for the promise of life in Christ Jesus,
to Timothy, my dear child:
grace, mercy, and peace from God the Father
and Christ Jesus our Lord.

I am grateful to God,
whom I worship with a clear conscience as my ancestors did,
as I remember you constantly in my prayers, night and day.
I yearn to see you again, recalling your tears,
so that I may be filled with joy,
as I recall your sincere faith
that first lived in your grandmother Lois
and in your mother Eunice
and that I am confident lives also in you.

For this reason, I remind you to stir into flame
the gift of God that you have through the imposition of my hands.
For God did not give us a spirit of cowardice
but rather of power and love and self-control.
So do not be ashamed of your testimony to our Lord,
nor of me, a prisoner for his sake;
but bear your share of hardship for the Gospel:
with the strength that comes from God.

Or Ti 1:1-5

Paul, a slave of God and Apostle of Jesus Christ
for the sake of the faith of God’s chosen ones
and the recognition of religious truth,
in the hope of eternal life
that God, who does not lie, promised before time began,
who indeed at the proper time revealed his word
in the proclamation with which I was entrusted
by the command of God our savior,
to Titus, my true child in our common faith:
grace and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our savior.

For this reason I left you in Crete
so that you might set right what remains to be done
and appoint presbyters in every town, as I directed you.

 

Responsorial Psalm: Ps 96:1-2a, 2b-3, 7-8a, 10
R. (3) Proclaim God’s marvelous deeds to all the nations.
Sing to the LORD a new song;
sing to the LORD, all you lands.
Sing to the LORD; bless his name.
R. Proclaim God’s marvelous deeds to all the nations.
Announce his salvation, day after day.
Tell his glory among the nations;
among all peoples, his wondrous deeds.
R. Proclaim God’s marvelous deeds to all the nations.
Give to the LORD, you families of nations,
give to the LORD glory and praise;
give to the LORD the glory due his name!
R. Proclaim God’s marvelous deeds to all the nations.
Say among the nations: The LORD is king.
He has made the world firm, not to be moved;
he governs the peoples with equity.
R. Proclaim God’s marvelous deeds to all the nations.

 

Alleluia: Ps 119:105
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
A lamp to my feet is your word,
a light to my path.
R. Alleluia, alleluia.

 

Gospel: Mk 4:1-20

1 On another occasiona he began to teach by the sea. A very large crowd gathered around him so that he got into a boat on the sea and sat down. And the whole crowd was beside the sea on land.2And he taught them at length in parables, and in the course of his instruction he said to them,3 “Hear this! A sower went out to sow.4And as he sowed, some seed fell on the path, and the birds came and ate it up.5Other seed fell on rocky ground where it had little soil. It sprang up at once because the soil was not deep.6And when the sun rose, it was scorched and it withered for lack of roots.7Some seed fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up and choked it and it produced no grain.8And some seed fell on rich soil and produced fruit. It came up and grew and yielded thirty, sixty, and a hundredfold.”9He added, “Whoever has ears to hear ought to hear.”

The Purpose of the Parables.10And when he was alone, those present along with the Twelve questioned him about the parables.11He answered them, “The mystery of the kingdom of God has been granted to you. But to those outside everything comes in parables,12so that‘they may look and see but not perceive,

and hear and listen but not understand, in order that they may not be converted and be forgiven.’” 13 Jesus said to them, “Do you not understand this parable? Then how will you understand any of the parables?

14The sower sows the word. 15These are the ones on the path where the word is sown. As soon as they hear, Satan comes at once and takes away the word sown in them. 16And these are the ones sown on rocky ground who, when they hear the word, receive it at once with joy. 17But they have no root; they last only for a time. Then when tribulation or persecution comes because of the word, they quickly fall away. 18Those sown among thorns are another sort. They are the people who hear the word, 19but worldly anxiety, the lure of riches, and the craving for other things intrude and choke the word, and it bears no fruit. 20But those sown on rich soil are the ones who hear the word and accept it and bear fruit thirty and sixty and a hundredfold.”

 

Intentions

–          That our Christian associations and organizations may realize better that all have to cooperate to be truly the Church of Christ, we pray:

–          That our community may always be aware that it is not standing alone, but united in faith and love, in hope and service with the universal Church, we pray:

–          That the Church may always be hospitable and be a home to strangers and refugees, people without a home or country, we pray:

 

Prayer over the Gifts           

Lord our God,
people entrusted themselves to your Son
because they saw that he was genuine.
Make the ministers of your Word
close and available to their people.
May they learn from your Son
to give themselves without regrets
as a piece of bread broken and shared
and a cup of gladdening wine
passed from hand to hand,
together with Christ Jesus, our Lord.

 

Prayer after Communion

Lord our God,
your Son Jesus, has spoken to us here
and broken to us the bread of himself.
Send us leaders who keep reminding us
of his Word of life and hope
and of his deeds of saving love.
Let these bring us together
as a community of service
in which your Son is alive
as our Lord, for ever and ever.

 

Blessing

The Lord keeps sowing his word in us whenever he speaks to us in the readings from the Scriptures and whenever we see how good Christians practice their faith. May we hear that word and live by it, with the blessing of Almighty God, the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit.

 

Commentary

Recklessness of the Sower

Unlike a careful and responsible sower who would ensure that the seeds fell only on the good and well-prepared soil, the parable’s sower recklessly sows the seeds everywhere: not only within the fertile, ploughed soil, but also among thorns, on the path, and on the rocky ground; in other words, he sows them in every conceivable space. However, there is method in the seeming madness of the sower; for, we know that this sower is God Himself. What appears foolish in human perspective has greater wisdom in the Divine plan. God does not withhold his word – the seed – from any type of human hearts, be they fertile, full of thorns, hard, or rocky. The Good News is not withheld from anyone, nor is it preached based on the recipient’s worth. It is up to the human hearts to respond to the seeds of the word, so as to produce thirty or sixty or hundred fold. Let those who have ears, let them hear.

 

Reflection taken from Bible Diary 2022;

written by Fr.Paulson Velyannoor, CMF