Thursday February 17, 2022

Thursday of 6th Week in Ordinary Time 

Equals Before God    

                                   

Introduction

Our constant temptation is to look up to people in positions of power, wealth, influence, and to disregard the poor and the weak and to discriminate against them and also against half of humanity-women. It demands courage to associate with the poor and to stand up for their rights. The Gospel is not to be abused for social agitation to divide and polarize, for Christ came to save the rich too, but it demands social consciousness and involvement. The prophets and the Gospel – also the apostles – have hard-hitting passages about commitment to the poor and to social justice; we should do away with our tendency to deprive them of their impact by explaining them spiritually.

The Gospel tells us today that Jesus asked his disciples one day who they thought he was, and Peter said: You are the Christ, that is, the promised Savior. But when Jesus told them, he would save people by his suffering and death before his resurrection, Peter protested. He could not accept a suffering Lord. For us too, it is hard to accept pain and contradiction. We grumble and protest: “Why me?” But, we have to learn from Jesus that pain and hardship is part of life, and often the way to life and joy. People who have suffered for others understand what love means.

 

Opening Prayer

Lord God, merciful Father,
your Son came to set all people free,
to make the poor rich in faith and hope,
to make the rich aware of their poverty.
Unite us all in one trust in you
and in one common concern for one another;
give us all your attitude and that of Jesus,
of not distinguishing between ranks and classes and sexes
but of seeking together the freedom
brought us by Jesus Christ, our Lord.

 

1st Reading: Jas 2:1-9

My brothers and sisters, believers in our glorious Lord Jesus Christ must not show favoritism.

Suppose a man comes into your meeting wearing a gold ring and fine clothes, and a poor man in filthy old clothes also comes in.

If you show special attention to the man wearing fine clothes and say, “Here’s a good seat for you,” but say to the poor man, “You stand there” or “Sit on the floor by my feet,”

have you not discriminated among yourselves and become judges with evil thoughts?

Listen, my dear brothers and sisters: Has not God chosen those who are poor in the eyes of the world to be rich in faith and to inherit the kingdom he promised those who love him?

But you have dishonored the poor. Is it not the rich who are exploiting you? Are they not the ones who are dragging you into court?

Are they not the ones who are blaspheming the noble name of him to whom you belong?

If you really keep the royal law found in Scripture, “Love your neighbor as yourself,” you are doing right.

But if you show favoritism, you sin and are convicted by the law as lawbreakers.

 

Responsorial Psalm: 34:2-3, 4-5, 6-7

The Lord hears the cry of the poor

I will extol the LORD at all times; his praise will always be on my lips.

I will glory in the LORD; let the afflicted hear and rejoice.

The Lord hears the cry of the poor

Glorify the LORD with me; let us exalt his name together.

I sought the LORD, and he answered me; he delivered me from all my fears.

The Lord hears the cry of the poor

Those who look to him are radiant; their faces are never covered with shame.

The Lord hears the cry of the poor

 

Alleluia: Jn 6:63,68

Alleluia, alleluia.

Your words, Lord, are Spirit and life;

You have the words of everlasting life.

Alleluia, alleluia.

 

Gospel: Mk 8:27-33

Jesus set out with his disciples for the villages around Caesarea Philippi; and on the way he asked them, “Who do people say I am?” And they told him, “Some say you are John the Baptist; others say you are Elijah or one of the prophets.”

Then Jesus asked them, but you, who do you say I am?” Peter answered, “You are the Messiah.” And he ordered them not to tell anyone about him.

Jesus then began to teach them that the Son of Man had to suffer many things and be rejected by the elders, the chief priests and the teachers of the Law. He would be killed and after three days rise again. Jesus said all this quite openly, so that Peter took him aside and began to protest strongly. But Jesus turning around, and looking at his disciples, rebuked Peter saying, “Get behind me Satan! You are thinking, not as God does, but as people do.”

 

Intercessions

–          For the Church, that it may not be ashamed of preaching the crucified Christ and of being self-effacing with him, we pray:

–          For the stragglers in life, for the little people “who do not count,” that they may not be trampled underfoot by the high and the mighty, we pray:

–          For those not adapted to life, for those whose ideas or conduct we do not share, that we may respect them and have a heart and a place for them, we pray:

 

Prayer over the Gifts

Lord our God, loving Father,
by uniting us around this table
and giving us your Son as our food,
you remind us that you have made us
responsible for one another.
Help us to extend our hands in love,
without any humiliating condescension,
to anyone suffering or in need,
aware that we are all sisters and brothers
of our one Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.

 

Prayer after Communion

Lord God, Father of all,
for you every person counts;
you accept and welcome everyone
who is willing to respond to your love.
Let every person who hungers or suffers
wear for us the face of your Son
and help us to share with her or him
the bread of our poverty,
that we may bear with honor
the name of Jesus Christ, our Lord.

 

Blessing

            All are children of God… But let us all grow to become adults of God, whatever way we come, with all our differences and similarities. “I want them all to become one,” said Jesus. Let us become one in him, with the blessing of Almighty God, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.

 

Commentary

Do Not Lead, But Follow

Mark places the event at Caesarea-Philippi in chapter 8, right at the midpoint of his 16-chapter gospel. Thus, the proclamation of the Messianic identity of Jesus becomes the central message around which the events are arranged. Mark had built up the narrative by a series of events which manifested Jesus’ tremendous power; but at this point, affirming Peter’s proclamation of Jesus as the Messiah, he presents Jesus as revealing the earthly fate that awaits him. Given the nature of the events that preceded, none of the disciples was primed for such a revelation. No wonder Peter was so scandalized that he protested. But then, blocking God’s way is the work of the devil. The place of a disciple is behind the Master, not in front of him. Disciple must follow, not lead. Anyone who leads God’s faithful must keep in mind that even in the very act of leading, he or she is only following the road the Master walks.

Reflection taken from Bible Diary 2022;

written by Fr.Paulson Velyannoor, CMF