FOURTH WEEK IN ORDINARY TIME
Mon. Mrk.5:1-20...For a short time the crowds must be forgotten and attention turned to the disciples...so much to teach these people: who will continue His work? Up till now all the works have been among the Jews..this is the time to show them that the message is not only for the Jews but also for the Gentiles...the marvels which He works stirs up feelings of amazement in these people....the dis
ciples will learn that they will go among the Gentiles and that they, because they act in His name, shall conquer the power of evil.
The swine of evil shall be cast
Sun Feb.2 THE PRESENTATION OF THE LORD...Luke2:22-40..the candles..they remind us of many things..the one who has come to expel the darkness of sin and the power of evil..they remind us of how lives should be bright when we go to meet Christ...Mary carried the Light in her arms..she held Him up for all to see. We should carry the light for all to see...candles, how common place they are. Today we look at them and many of us will hold them in procession....we are reminded of the light which has shone upon us and the glory that is yet to come. Today’s feast is a feast of hastening to meet the Lord...the lamps which the wise Virgins carried these are our candles. waiting for and hastening to the Lord. It is a day to remind us of light..and what the Light has done for us...it is a day when we can sing with Simeon the hymn of thanksgiving which he sang. It is a day which invites us to look around and to see the darkness which engulfs so many people and to let them see the candle which we hold, the candle lit by the love of
31God.
So much darkness which has not yet been touched by the Light...so many eyes which have not yet seen the Light which we have seen. Christ was Presented in the Temple, we are asked to present Him to the temple of the world in which we live. We process ...to where and to whom? we process to the Lord to be found in the world, hidden but still there.
.Wed. Mrk.6:1-6....He has walked though the Galilee, this beautiful section of the country.
He has preached and healed, the crowds have followed Him Before moving on He must first visit His town, the town where He grew up, the town in which people knew Him, the town which was one of the first to hear His message. That time they received the message with enthusiasm.
36 He entered the synagogue. He started to preach. It was no longer enthusiasm that He met. Now it was skepticism, even animosity. What had happened to such a promising beginning? What happened to the seeds of faith? He will meet this time and again..enthusaism, quite suddenly turning to rejection. He will see the crowds who hailed Him as “King” within three days turn into the crowd which shouts:crucify Him. The message touched the hearts of people in areas that sometimes they do not wish to be touched.
His words are the words of life but then comes the moment of decision: shall I act on them. It is difficult. It is so comfortable now. To go to a new life, a new vision, means leaving the familiar. It is either reject Him or accept Him, sometimes the pain of letting go to accept Him is too much.
Perhaps this is just a stage one has to go through. This questioning, this pain, this fear...the challenge becomes clear...do I really want to do it? .
Mon. Mrk.5:1-20...For a short time the crowds must be forgotten and attention turned to the disciples...so much to teach these people: who will continue His work? Up till now all the works have been among the Jews..this is the time to show them that the message is not only for the Jews but also for the Gentiles...the marvels which He works stirs up feelings of amazement in these people....the dis
ciples will learn that they will go among the Gentiles and that they, because they act in His name, shall conquer the power of evil.The swine of evil shall be cast
Sun Feb.2 THE PRESENTATION OF THE LORD...Luke2:22-40..the candles..they remind us of many things..the one who has come to expel the darkness of sin and the power of evil..they remind us of how lives should be bright when we go to meet Christ...Mary carried the Light in her arms..she held Him up for all to see. We should carry the light for all to see...candles, how common place they are. Today we look at them and many of us will hold them in procession....we are reminded of the light which has shone upon us and the glory that is yet to come. Today’s feast is a feast of hastening to meet the Lord...the lamps which the wise Virgins carried these are our candles. waiting for and hastening to the Lord. It is a day to remind us of light..and what the Light has done for us...it is a day when we can sing with Simeon the hymn of thanksgiving which he sang. It is a day which invites us to look around and to see the darkness which engulfs so many people and to let them see the candle which we hold, the candle lit by the love of
31God.
So much darkness which has not yet been touched by the Light...so many eyes which have not yet seen the Light which we have seen. Christ was Presented in the Temple, we are asked to present Him to the temple of the world in which we live. We process ...to where and to whom? we process to the Lord to be found in the world, hidden but still there.
.Wed. Mrk.6:1-6....He has walked though the Galilee, this beautiful section of the country.
He has preached and healed, the crowds have followed Him Before moving on He must first visit His town, the town where He grew up, the town in which people knew Him, the town which was one of the first to hear His message. That time they received the message with enthusiasm.
36 He entered the synagogue. He started to preach. It was no longer enthusiasm that He met. Now it was skepticism, even animosity. What had happened to such a promising beginning? What happened to the seeds of faith? He will meet this time and again..enthusaism, quite suddenly turning to rejection. He will see the crowds who hailed Him as “King” within three days turn into the crowd which shouts:crucify Him. The message touched the hearts of people in areas that sometimes they do not wish to be touched.
His words are the words of life but then comes the moment of decision: shall I act on them. It is difficult. It is so comfortable now. To go to a new life, a new vision, means leaving the familiar. It is either reject Him or accept Him, sometimes the pain of letting go to accept Him is too much.
Perhaps this is just a stage one has to go through. This questioning, this pain, this fear...the challenge becomes clear...do I really want to do it? .
A young lady, a college student, is being challenged. The only reason she goes to Church is to keep peace in the home, as soon as she moves out she will stop. She doesn’t believe, except that the Master was a nice man who said good things. She argues. Faith is almost dead, one thinks. The simplicity of the faith when she was a little girl is now submerged in a sea of secular thought. She meets a young man. They fall in love. He is a convinced follower of the Master. This is our life, he says, and we shall lead it with Him. The reason for following the Master becomes clear in the young lady’s heart. She leaves the synagogue of doubt and rejection into the fresh air and the green hills of her spiritual Galilee.
Thurs. Mrk.6:7-13...the mission of Jesus, the mission of the disciples, the mission of the Church, to preach repentence. Repentence, the turning to God and away from sin. Repentence, the opening of the human heart to receive the Lord. Repentence, the moment of truth when we see ourselves as sinners, but more, sinners being looked upon by the merciful God.
Fri. Mrk.6:14-29.....the Master has said that the disciples must go where the Master has gone...they have to expect the same treatment.
The Master will follow the disciple..as the disciple ,John, was killed so the Master will be killed. John goes before only to point out what will happen to the Master. The question: who is Jesus? We will meet this same question many times...many answers were given...almost as if people were afraid to say who many of them knew in their hearts who He was.
Fear is a strange feeling. On the one hand it can help us to live good normal lives. We are afraid of getting sick, so we take care of ourselves, afraid of failing an exam, so we study hard...it, fear, can be a great motivator. On the other hand it can cripple us. We are afraid of loosing power so we have to downgrade people, we are afraid that people will not think the highest of us, so we have to do a lot of making believe....unhealthy fear can kill rather than be a life giver. Every now and then we are reminded of fear and what it can do the human heart.
Herod was a man wracked with fear...fear of John, will he start a rebellion, fear of Jesus, who is He, fear of loosing power, fear of what people will think of him...all coming together to form a man who is really afraid to live.
Sat. Mrk.6:30-34.....those who were sent and returned must have been so excited...the power that they had could possibly have frightened them...they were just simple men how could they do all these things...it was not them it was the Master working in them, that was the only possible explanation. There were many people around. Maybe Jesus just wanted to be alone with His friends and listen to their stories without distractions...perhaps He knew how tired they were and wanted to give them a chance to rest...perhaps He was reminding them that by going out into the desert the new Exodus had begun and they will be the leaders.
What attracted the people to them? Why did they search them out, give them no rest? What was it about these men that drew people? Surely, it was the Master who was at the center..without Him there would be nothing, but these others. They come into contact with the Master, He shares with them who He is, people come to them not because of who they are but because of who the Master is. The emptying so the Master can live.
Thurs. Mrk.6:7-13...the mission of Jesus, the mission of the disciples, the mission of the Church, to preach repentence. Repentence, the turning to God and away from sin. Repentence, the opening of the human heart to receive the Lord. Repentence, the moment of truth when we see ourselves as sinners, but more, sinners being looked upon by the merciful God.
Fri. Mrk.6:14-29.....the Master has said that the disciples must go where the Master has gone...they have to expect the same treatment.
The Master will follow the disciple..as the disciple ,John, was killed so the Master will be killed. John goes before only to point out what will happen to the Master. The question: who is Jesus? We will meet this same question many times...many answers were given...almost as if people were afraid to say who many of them knew in their hearts who He was.
Fear is a strange feeling. On the one hand it can help us to live good normal lives. We are afraid of getting sick, so we take care of ourselves, afraid of failing an exam, so we study hard...it, fear, can be a great motivator. On the other hand it can cripple us. We are afraid of loosing power so we have to downgrade people, we are afraid that people will not think the highest of us, so we have to do a lot of making believe....unhealthy fear can kill rather than be a life giver. Every now and then we are reminded of fear and what it can do the human heart.
Herod was a man wracked with fear...fear of John, will he start a rebellion, fear of Jesus, who is He, fear of loosing power, fear of what people will think of him...all coming together to form a man who is really afraid to live.
Sat. Mrk.6:30-34.....those who were sent and returned must have been so excited...the power that they had could possibly have frightened them...they were just simple men how could they do all these things...it was not them it was the Master working in them, that was the only possible explanation. There were many people around. Maybe Jesus just wanted to be alone with His friends and listen to their stories without distractions...perhaps He knew how tired they were and wanted to give them a chance to rest...perhaps He was reminding them that by going out into the desert the new Exodus had begun and they will be the leaders.
What attracted the people to them? Why did they search them out, give them no rest? What was it about these men that drew people? Surely, it was the Master who was at the center..without Him there would be nothing, but these others. They come into contact with the Master, He shares with them who He is, people come to them not because of who they are but because of who the Master is. The emptying so the Master can live.
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