Monday February 14, 2022

 Monday of 6th Week in Ordinary Time 

STS. CYRIL, Monk & METHODIUS,  Bishop, Missionaries    

 

Introduction

The liturgy celebrates today two great missionaries from the Eastern Church, the monk Cyril and his brother, Methodius, bishop. Born in Thessalonica in Greece, they evangelized the Bulgarians, Moravians and Bohemians in the 9th Century. They created the Slavonic (Slavic) alphabet – called “Cyrillic” – translated the scriptures and prepared liturgies in Slavonic. On account of this inculturation of the liturgy, they met with much opposition, but Rome approved what they had done.

 

Opening Prayer

Lord our God,
you inspired your missionaries
Saints Cyril and Methodius
to be inventive and adaptive
in proclaiming your good news to people.
Make all Christians aware, we pray you,
that your Son Jesus Christ
should be recognizable in us
and help us to renew ourselves again and again
that we may bear the true face of Christ,
who is your Son and our Lord for ever.

 

Reading 1: Jas 1:1-11

James, a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ,
to the twelve tribes in the dispersion, greetings.

Consider it all joy, my brothers and sisters,
when you encounter various trials,
for you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance.
And let perseverance be perfect,
so that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.
But if any of you lacks wisdom,
he should ask God who gives to all generously and ungrudgingly,
and he will be given it.
But he should ask in faith, not doubting,
for the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea
that is driven and tossed about by the wind.
For that person must not suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord,
since he is a man of two minds, unstable in all his ways.

The brother in lowly circumstances
should take pride in high standing,
and the rich one in his lowliness,
for he will pass away “like the flower of the field.”
For the sun comes up with its scorching heat and dries up the grass,
its flower droops, and the beauty of its appearance vanishes.
So will the rich person fade away in the midst of his pursuits.

 

Responsorial Psalm Ps 119:67, 68, 71, 72, 75, 76

(77a) Be kind to me, Lord, and I shall live.
Before I was afflicted I went astray,
but now I hold to your promise.
R. Be kind to me, Lord, and I shall live.
You are good and bountiful;
teach me your statutes.
R. Be kind to me, Lord, and I shall live.
It is good for me that I have been afflicted,
that I may learn your statutes.
R. Be kind to me, Lord, and I shall live.
The law of your mouth is to me more precious
than thousands of gold and silver pieces.
R. Be kind to me, Lord, and I shall live.
I know, O LORD, that your ordinances are just,
and in your faithfulness you have afflicted me.
R. Be kind to me, Lord, and I shall live.
Let your kindness comfort me
according to your promise to your servants.
R. Be kind to me, Lord, and I shall live.

 

Alleluia Jn 14:6

Alleluia, alleluia.
I am the way and the truth and the life, says the Lord;
no one comes to the Father except through me.
R. Alleluia, alleluia.

 

Gospel Mk 8:11-13

The Pharisees came forward and began to argue with Jesus,
seeking from him a sign from heaven to test him.
He sighed from the depth of his spirit and said,
“Why does this generation seek a sign?
Amen, I say to you, no sign will be given to this generation.”
Then he left them, got into the boat again,
and went off to the other shore.

 

Intercessions:

–          For people who have to face trials, that they may grow as persons and Christians through this testing of their faith, we pray:

–          For those who doubt their faith or who hesitate to commit themselves the way their faith demands, that the Lord may give them insight and strength, we pray:

–          For all of us, that the Lord may increase our faith and make it spontaneous and rich, without our needing special signs, we pray:

 

Prayer over the Gifts

Lord our God, we are gathered here
with your Son in our midst.
May we celebrate this eucharist
in spirit and in truth
and express in it what we live in everyday life.
May thus our friendship and love
for you and for everyone
become deeper and more real
every time we come together
in Jesus Christ our Lord.

 

Prayer after Communion

Lord our God,
Jesus has spoken to us here
his word that has to become flesh and blood
in the life of each of us
and in our Christian communities.
Help us to see that word always
as a challenge to us today,
a challenge to which we can respond
by the strength of the bread of life.
And let the Church and its pastors
do all they can to bring the liturgy
close to the life of the people.
We ask this through Christ our Lord.

 

Blessing

The sign given us by Jesus is Jesus himself, God is showing himself in Jesus, in his inspiring word of life, in the tenderness of his healing, in his acceptance of all people, including outcasts and the poor. May God open your eyes and bless you, the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit.

 

Commentary:

The Sigh of Jesus

There is something deeply human and saddening about Jesus giving a deep sigh. When we realize that nothing we say or do makes sense to those around us, we sigh. When unspeakable sorrow wells up within us, we sigh. God sighs when he sees in us shallowness of faith and rebellious resistance to truth, a resistance that prevents the Spirit from entering our hearts. The Pharisees’ demand for a sign was a true sign of their lack of faith in him—for they had already concluded that Jesus was colluding with Beelzebul (Mk 3:22). Jesus leaves without obliging them, for he knew that their minds were totally closed and no sign was going to convince them otherwise. True faith does not need signs; it simply believes, trusts, and loves—the kind James asks us to embrace, in his letter today.

Reflection taken from Bible Diary 2022;

written by Fr.Paulson Velyannoor, CMF