Daily Lectio
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1) Opening prayer
Father,
watch over your family
and keep us safe in your care,
for all our hope is in you.
We ask this through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son,
who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,
one God, for ever and ever. Amen. 2) Gospel reading - Mark 7,1-13
The Pharisees and some of the scribes who had come from Jerusalem gathered round Jesus, and they noticed that some of his disciples were eating with unclean hands, that is, without washing them. For the Pharisees, and all the Jews, keep the tradition of the elders and never eat without washing their arms as far as the elbow; and on returning from the market place they never eat without first sprinkling themselves. There are also many other observances which have been handed down to them to keep, concerning the washing of cups and pots and bronze dishes. So the Pharisees and scribes asked him, 'Why do your disciples not respect the tradition of the elders but eat their food with unclean hands?'
He answered, 'How rightly Isaiah prophesied about you hypocrites in the passage of scripture: This people honours me only with lip-service, while their hearts are far from me. Their reverence of me is worthless; the lessons they teach are nothing but human commandments. You put aside the commandment of God to observe human traditions.' And he said to them, 'How ingeniously you get round the commandment of God in order to preserve your own tradition! For Moses said: Honour your father and your mother, and, Anyone who curses father or mother must be put to death. But you say, "If a man says to his father or mother: Anything I have that I might have used to help you is Korban (that is, dedicated to God)," then he is forbidden from that moment to do anything for his father or mother. In this way you make God's word ineffective for the sake of your tradition which you have handed down. And you do many other things like this.' 3) Reflection
• The Gospel today speaks about the religious traditions of that time and of the Pharisees who taught this tradition to the people. For example, to eat without washing the hands, as they said, to eat with impure hands. Many of these traditions were separated from life and had lost their significance. But even if this was the state of things, these were traditions kept and taught, either because of fear or because of superstition. The Gospel presents some instructions of Jesus concerning these traditions.
• Mark 7, 1-2: Control of the Pharisees and liberty of the disciples. The Pharisees and some Scribes, who had come from Jerusalem, observed how the disciples of Jesus ate the bread with impure hands. Here there are three points which deserve to be made evident: a) The Scribes were from Jerusalem, from the capital city! This means that they had come to observe and to control what Jesus did. b) The disciples do not wash the hands before eating! This means that being with Jesus impels them to have the courage to transgress the norms which tradition imposed on the people, but that no longer had any sense, any meaning for life. c) The fact of washing the hands, which up until now continues to be an important norm of hygiene, had assumed for them a religious significance which served to control and discriminate persons.
• Mark 7, 3-4: The Tradition of the Ancients. “The Tradition of the Ancients” transmitted norms which had to be observed by the people in order to have the purity asked by the Law. The observance of the law was a very serious aspect for the people of that time. They thought that an impure person could not receive the blessings promised by God to Abraham. The norms on purity were taught in order to open the way to God, source of peace. In reality, instead of being a source of peace, the norms constituted a prison, slavery. For the poor, it was practically impossible to observe the hundreds of norms, of traditions and of laws. For this reason they were considered ignorant and damned persons who did not know the law (Jn 7, 49).
• Mark 7, 5: The Scribes and the Pharisees criticize the behaviour of the disciples of Jesus. The Scribes and Pharisees ask Jesus: Why do your disciples not behave according to the tradition of the Ancients and eat the bread with impure hands? They think that they are interested in knowing the reason for the behaviour of the disciples. In reality, they criticize Jesus because he allows the disciples to transgress the norms of purity. The Pharisees formed a type of confraternity, the principal concern of which was to observe all the laws of purity. The Scribes were responsible for the doctrine. They taught the laws relative to the observance of purity.
• Mark 7, 6-13 Jesus criticizes the incoherence of the Pharisees. Jesus answers quoting Isaiah: This people approaches me only in words, honours me only with lip service, while their hearts are far from me (cf. Is 29, 13). Insisting on the norms of purity, the Pharisees emptied the content of the commandments of God’s Law. Jesus quotes a concrete example. They said: the person, who offers his goods to the Temple, cannot use these goods to help those in greater need. Thus, in the name of tradition they emptied the fourth commandment from its content, which commands to love father and mother. These persons seem to be very observant, but they are so only externally. In their heart, they remain far away from God; as the hymn says: “His name is Jesus Christ and is hungry, and lives out on the sidewalk. And people when they pass by, sometimes do not stop, because they are afraid to arrive late to church!” At the time of Jesus, people, in their wisdom, were not in agreement with everything they were taught. They were hoping that one day the Messiah would come to indicate another way to attain purity. In Jesus this hope becomes a reality. 4) Personal questions
• Do you know any religious tradition today which does not have too much sense, but which continues to be taught?
• The Pharisees were practicing Jews, but their faith was divided, separated from the life of the people. This is why Jesus criticizes them. And today, would Jesus criticize us? In what things? 5) Concluding prayer
Our Lord, how majestic is your name throughout the world!
I look up at your heavens, shaped by your fingers,
at the moon and the stars you set firm-
what are human beings that you spare a thought for them,
or the child of Adam that you care for him? (Ps 8,1.3-4) |
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1) Opening prayer
Father,
watch over your family
and keep us safe in your care,
for all our hope is in you.
We ask this through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son,
who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,
one God, for ever and ever. Amen. 2) Gospel reading - Mark 6,53-56
Having made the crossing, Jesus and his disciples came to land at Gennesaret and moored there.
When they disembarked people at once recognised him, and started hurrying all through the countryside and brought the sick on stretchers to wherever they heard he was.
And wherever he went, to village or town or farm, they laid down the sick in the open spaces, begging him to let them touch even the fringe of his cloak. And all those who touched him were saved. 3) Reflection
• The text of today’s Gospel is the final part of the whole passage of Mark 6,45-56 which presents three different themes: a) Jesus goes to the mountain alone to pray (Mk 6, 45-46). b) Immediately after, he walks on the water, goes toward the disciples who are struggling against the waves of the sea (Mk 6, 47-52). 3) Now, in today’s Gospel, when they were already on the shore, the people look for Jesus so that he can cure their sick (Mk 6, 53-56).
• Mark 6, 53-56. The search of the people. “At that time, Jesus and his disciples having made the crossing, they came to land at Gennesaret. When they disembarked, the people at once recognized him”. The people were numerous looking for Jesus. They came from all parts, bringing their sick. The enthusiasm of the people who look for Jesus and recognizing him follow him is surprising. What impels people to search for Jesus is not only the desire to encounter him, to be with him, but rather the desire to be cured of the sicknesses. “And hurrying all through the countryside they brought the sick on stretchers to wherever they heard he went.
And wherever he went to village or town or farm, they laid down the sick in the open spaces, begging him to let them touch even the fringe of his cloak, and all those who touched him were saved”. The Gospel of Matthew comments and enlightens this fact quoting the figure of the Servant of Yahweh, of whom Isaiah says: “Yet ours were the sufferings he was bearing, ours the sorrows he was carrying”. (Is 53, 4 and Mt 8, 16-17)
• To teach and to cure, to cure and to teach. Right from the beginning of his apostolic activity, Jesus goes through all the villages of Galilee, to speak to the people about the imminent coming of the Kingdom of God (Mk 1, 14-15). There, wherever he finds people to listen to him, he speaks and transmits the Good News of God, he accepts the sick, in all places: in the Synagogues during the celebration of the Word, on Saturday (Mk 1, 21; 3, 1; 6, 2); in the informal meetings in the house of friends (Mk 2, 1.15; 7, 17; 9, 28; 10, 10); walking on the street with the disciples (Mk 2, 23); along the beach, sitting in a boat (Mk 4, 1); in the desert where he took refuge and where people looked for him (Mk 1, 45; 6, 32-34); on the mountain from where he proclaimed the Beatitudes (Mt 5, 1); in the squares of the villages and of the cities, where the people took their sick (Mk 6, 55-56); in the Temple of Jerusalem, on the occasion of pilgrimages, every day without fear (Mk 14, 49)! To cure and to teach, to teach and to cure that is what Jesus did the most (Mk 2, 13; 4, 1-2; 6, 34). This is what he used to do (Mk 10, 1). The people were amazed (Mk 12, 37; 1, 22.27; 11, 18) and they looked for him, as a crowd.
• In the origin of this great enthusiasm of the people was, on the one hand, the person of Jesus who called and attracted and, on the other side, the abandonment in which people lived, they were like sheep without a shepherd (cf. Mk 6,34). In Jesus, everything was revelation of what impelled him from within! He not only spoke of God, but he also revealed him. He communicated something of what he himself lived and experienced. He not only announced the Good News. He himself was a proof, a living witness of the Kingdom. In him was manifested what happens when a human being allows God to reign in his life. What has value, what is important, is not only the words, but also and above all the witness, the concrete gesture. This is the Good News which attracts! 4) Personal questions
• The enthusiasm of the people of Jesus, looking for the sense of life and a solution for their ills. Where does this exist today? Does in exist in you, does it exist in others?
• What attracts is the loving attitude of Jesus toward the poor and the abandoned. And I, how do I deal with the persons excluded by society? 5) Concluding prayer
How countless are your works, Yahweh,
all of them made so wisely!
The earth is full of your creatures.
Bless Yahweh, my soul. (Ps 104,24.35) |
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Faith in the word of Jesus and the miraculous catch of fish
The call of the first disciples
Luke 5: 1-11 1. Opening prayer
Father, now your Word has come! It has appeared like the sun after a dark night, empty and solitary. When your Word is not present, it is always thus, I know. Grant me the soft breeze from the sea of your Holy Spirit and may it gather me, walk with me towards Christ, your living Word to whom I wish to listen. I shall not move from this shore, where he teaches and speaks, but I shall stay here until such time as he takes me with him. Then I shall follow him wherever he takes me. 2. Reading a) Placing the passage in its context:
This passage, full of great theological intensity, comes at the centre of a journey of faith and of meeting with the Lord Jesus, who leads us from deafness to being able to hear, from the most paralysing sickness to the saving healing that makes us capable of helping our brothers and sisters to be reborn with us. Jesus has begun his preaching in the synagogue of Nazareth, giving sense and light to the words in the scroll of the Torah (4: 16 ss.). He has defeated sin (4: 31-37) and sickness (4: 38-41), driving them away from the heart of human beings and he has announced the mysterious force that sent him to us and by which he moves, running like a giant who reaches every corner of the earth. It is a this point that we hear the answer that is the beginning of what follows, that is, the obedience of faith. It is at this point that the Church and a new people are born, those able to hear and respond with a yes. b) To help us with the reading of the passage:
vv. 1-3: Jesus is on the shore of lake Genesareth and before him is a large crowd of people, eager to listen to the Word of God. He goes into a boat and pushes off a little. As teacher and guide, he sits on the waters and rules them, and from there he offers salvation to those who listen to and welcome the Word of God
vv. 4-6: Jesus invites some to go fishing and Peter trusts him, believes in the Word of the Master. In faith he launches into the deep and casts his nets. Because of his faith, the catch is over-abundant, it is miraculous.
v.7: Meeting Jesus is never a closed matter. The meeting always leads to communication, sharing. Indeed, the gift is too great and cannot be held by one person. Peter calls his mates in another boat and the gift is doubled and grows continually.
vv. 8-11: Peter kneels before Jesus, adores him and recognises his sinfulness, his nothingness, but Jesus calls him with the same authority that made so many seas obey him throughout Scripture: “Fear not!”. God reveals himself and becomes the companion of men and women. Peter accepts the mission of delivering men and women, his brothers and sisters, from the waters of the world and of sin, just as he was delivered. He leaves his boat, his nets, the fish and follows Jesus, he and his mates. c) The text:
 1 While the people pressed upon him to hear the word of God, he was standing by the lake of Gennesareth. 2 And he saw two boats by the lake; but the fishermen had gone out of them and were washing their nets. 3 Getting into one of the boats, which was Simons, he asked him to put out a little from the land. And he sat down and taught the people from the boat. 4 And when he had ceased speaking, he said to Simon, "Put out into the deep and let down your nets for a catch." 5 And Simon answered, "Master, we toiled all night and took nothing! But at your word I will let down the nets." 6 And when they had done this, they enclosed a great shoal of fish; and as their nets were breaking, 7 they beckoned to their partners in the other boat to come and help them. And they came and filled both the boats, so that they began to sink. 8 But when Simon Peter saw it, he fell down at Jesus' knees, saying, "Depart from me, for I am a sinful man, O Lord." 9 For he was astonished, and all that were with him, at the catch of fish which they had taken; 10 and so also were James and John, sons of Zebedee, who were partners with Simon. And Jesus said to Simon, "Do not be afraid; henceforth you will be catching men." 11 And when they had brought their boats to land, they left everything and followed him. 3. A moment of prayerful silence During this time of silence and solitude accorded to me so that I can stay with Him, I go away from the shore a little way, take to the deep and, trusting in the Lord, I cast the net into the deep and I wait… 4. Some questions a) “He sat down and taught the people from the boat”. Jesus comes down, sits and takes up his abode among us, he bends down even to touching our earth and from this smallness he offers us his teaching, his Word of salvation. Jesus offers me time, space, full availability to meet him and know him, but do I know how to pause, to stay, to take root in Him and before Him?
b) “He asked him to put out a little from the land”. The Lord’s request is gradual, in fact, after this first putting out from the land, He asks him to launch into the deep. “Put out into the deep!”: an invitation addressed to every man and woman. Do I have faith, trust and confidence in him to let go of my concerns? Do I look at myself sincerely and seriously? Where do the treasures of my life lie?
c) “I will let down the nets”. Peter gives us a brilliant example of faith in the Word of Jesus. In this passage, the verb “let down” occurs twice: the first time it refers to the nets and the second to the person of Peter. The significance is clear: before the Lord we can let down our whole being. We let down, but He gathers, always and with an absolute and infallible faithfulness. Do I feel like taking my life, today, just as it is, and letting it down at the feet of Jesus, in Him, so that He, once more, may gather me, heal and save me, making of me a new person?
d) “They beckoned to their partners in the other boat”. Again Peter becomes a guide on my journey and shows me how to be open to others, to share, because it is not possible to remain isolated and closed in the Church. We are all sent: “Go to my brethren and say to them” (Jn 20: 17). Am I able to bring my boat close to that of others? Am I able to share with my brothers and sisters the gifts and riches the Lord has given me to hold in trust? 5. A key to the reading * The sea and the theme of the exodus:
Jesus is standing by the seashore. He stands above the dark, menacing and unknown tides of the sea and of life. He stands before this crowd of people gathered, ready to listen to him and ready for the journey, He who is the good shepherd with the staff of his Word. He wishes to take us across the seas and oceans of this world on a journey of salvation that brings us before Him, as had already happened at the Red Sea (Ex 14: 21-23) and on the banks of the Jordan (Jn 3: 14-17). Even the sea of sand in the desert is overcome by the power of his Word and opens up, becoming a garden, a level and passable road (Is 43: 16-21) for those who decide to go on the return journey to God and allow themselves to be guided by Him. In these few verses of the Gospel, the Lord once more prepares for us the great miracle of the exodus, of the coming out of the darkness of death through the saving crossing to the green pastures of friendship with Him and the listening to his voice. All is ready: our name has been called with infinite love by the good shepherd, who knows us from all eternity and who guides us for all eternity, never allowing us to fall from his hand. * Listening in faith that leads to obedience:
This passage from Luke is the second concerning the glorious journey that the Lord Jesus presents to us. The crowd gathers closely around Jesus, urged by the intimate desire to “hear the Word of God”; this is the answer to the constant invitation of the Father, which we find throughout the Scriptures: “Hear, O Israel!” (Dt 6: 4) e “If only my people would hear me!” (Ps 80: 14). It is as if the crowd were saying: “Yes, I will hear what God proclaims, the Lord” (Ps 85: 9). But the kind of hearing that is mentioned and suggested is complete, not superficial; it is alive and life-giving, not dead; it is the hearing of faith, not of incredulity and of hardness of heart. It is the hearing that says: “Yes, Lord, at your word I will let down my nets”. The call addressed to us just now is the call to faith, to trust in him and in every word that comes from his lips, certain that whatever he says will come true. As God said to Abraham: “Is anything too wonderful for the Lord?” (Gen 18: 14) or to Jeremiah: “Is anything impossible to me?” (Jer 32: 27); cfr. also Zac 8: 6. Or as it was said to Mary: “Nothing is impossible for God” (Lk 1: 37) and she replied: “Behold the handmaid of the Lord, be it done to me according to your word”. That is the point we must reach; like Mary, like Peter. We cannot be just hearers, otherwise we would be deceiving ourselves, as James says (1: 19-25); we would continue to be deceived by forgetfulness and we would be lost. The Word must be realised, put into practice, fulfilled. Great is the ruin of the one who hears the Word but does not put it into practice; we must dig deep and lay foundations on the rock, that is, faith in practice (cfr. Lk 6: 46-49). * Fishing as the mission of the Church:
Fidelity to hearing and the faith leads to mission, that is, to enter into that society that Jesus instituted for the spreading of the kingdom. It seems that Luke, in this passage, wishes to present the Church living the post-paschal experience of the encounter with the risen Jesus. We note, in fact, the many allusions to the passage in Jn 21:1-8. Jesus chooses a boat and chooses Peter and, from the boat, he calls men and women, sons and daughters, to carry on his mission. We note that the verb “put out into the deep” is in the singular, referring to Peter who is given the task of guide, but the act of fishing is in the plural: “let down your nets”, referring to all those who wish to adhere to and participate in the mission. This one mission and common task of all is beautiful and sparkling, it is joyful! It is the apostolic mission, which begins now, in obedience to the Word of the Lord and that will reach the deep, even to the ends of the earth (cfr. Mt 28: 19; Acts 1: 8; Mk 16: 15; 13: 10; Lk 24: 45-48).
It is interesting to note the word that Luke uses to point out the mission given by Jesus to Peter, and to all of us, when he says: “Do not be afraid, henceforth you shall catch men”. Here we do not come across the term found in Mt 4: 18 ff., and in Mk 1: 16 or even in this passage in v. 2, which is simply fishing; here we find a new word, which appears only twice in the whole of the New Testament and which derives from the verb “to capture”, in the sense of “taking alive and keeping alive”. Indeed, the fishing people of the Lord, let down their nets into the sea of the world to offer to people Life, to tear them from the abyss and make them come back to true life. Peter and the others, we and our sailing partners in this world, can continue, if we wish, wherever we are, his wonderful mission as sent by the Father “to save what was lost” (Lk 19: 10). 6. A time of prayer: Psalm 66 A hymn of praise to the Lord,
who has opened our hearts to faith. Rit. My strength and my song is the Lord; he has saved me! Make a joyful noise to God, all the earth;
sing the glory of his name;
give to him glorious praise!
Say to God, "How terrible are your deeds! All the earth worships you; they sing praises to you,
sing praises to your name.
Come and see what God has done:
he is terrible in his deeds among men.
He turned the sea into dry land;
men passed through the river on foot.
There did we rejoice in him. Bless our God, O peoples,
let the sound of his praise be heard,
who has kept us among the living,
and has not let our feet slip.
For you, O God, have tested us;
You have tried us as silver is tried.
You brought us into the net;
we went through fire and through water;
yet you have brought us forth to a spacious place. Come and hear, all you who fear God,
and I will tell what he has done for me.
I cried aloud to him,
and he was extolled with my tongue.
But truly God has listened;
he has given heed to the voice of my prayer.
Blessed be God,
because he has not rejected my prayer
or removed his steadfast love from me! 7. Closing prayer Lord, you opened the sea and came to me; you split the night and began a new day in my life! You spoke your Word to me and touched my heart; you made me go with you into the boat and brought me to the deep. Lord, you have done great things! I praise you, I bless you and thank you, in your Word, in your Son Jesus and in the Holy Spirit. Always take me into the deep with you, in you and you in me, so that I may let down many nets of love, friendship, sharing and seeking your face and your kingdom here on earth. Lord, I am a sinner, I know! But for this too I thank you, because you did not come to call the just but sinners and I hear your voice and follow you. Behold, Father, I leave everything and come with you… |
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1) Opening prayer
Lord our God,
help us to love you with all our hearts
and to love all men as you love them.
We ask this through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son,
who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,
one God, for ever and ever. Amen. 2) Gospel reading - Mark 6,30-34
The apostles rejoined Jesus and told him all they had done and taught.
And he said to them, 'Come away to some lonely place all by yourselves and rest for a while'; for there were so many coming and going that there was no time for them even to eat.
So they went off in the boat to a lonely place where they could be by themselves.
But people saw them going, and many recognised them; and from every town they all hurried to the place on foot and reached it before them.
So as he stepped ashore he saw a large crowd; and he took pity on them because they were like sheep without a shepherd, and he set himself to teach them at some length. 3) Reflection
• The Gospel today is in great contrast with that of yesterday. On one side, the banquet of death, wanted by Herod with the great of his kingdom in the Palace of the Capital, during which John the Baptist was murdered, (Mk 6, 17-29); on the other side, the banquet of life promoted by Jesus with the hungry people of Galilee, in the desert (Mk 6, 30-44).The Gospel today presents only the introduction of the multiplication of the loaves and describes the teaching of Jesus.
• Mark 6, 30-32. The welcome given to the disciples. “At that time, the Apostles rejoined Jesus and told him all they had done and taught. And he said to them: “Come away to some lonely place all by yourselves and rest for a while”. These verses show how Jesus formed his disciples. He was not concerned only about the content of the preaching, but also of rest for the disciples. He invited them to go to a lonely place so as to be able to rest and review what they had done.
• Mark 6, 33-34. The welcome given to the people. The people perceive that Jesus had gone to the other side of the lake, and they followed him trying to go to him by foot, to the other shore. “So as he stepped ashore he saw a large crowd, and he took pity on them because they were like sheep without a shepherd and he set himself to teach them at some length”. Seeing that crowd Jesus was sad, “because they were like sheep without a shepherd”. He forgets his rest and begins to teach them. In becoming aware that the people have no shepherd, Jesus began to be their shepherd. He begins to teach them. As the Psalm says: “The Lord is my Shepherd! I lack nothing. In grassy meadows he lets me lie. By tranquil streams he leads me to restore my spirit. He guides me in paths of saving justice as befits his name. Even were I to walk in a ravine as dark as death I should fear no danger, for you are at my side. Your staff and your crook are there to soothe me. You prepare a table for me under the eyes of my enemies.” (Ps 23, 1.3-5). Jesus wanted to rest together with his disciples, but the desire to respond to the needs of the people impels him to leave rest aside. Something similar happens when he meets the Samaritan woman. The disciples went to get some food. When they returned they said to Jesus: “Master, eat something!” (Jn 4, 31), but he answers: “I have food to eat that you do not know about” (Jn 4, 32). The desire to respond to the needs of the Samaritan people leads him to forget his hunger. “My food is to do the will of the one who sent me and to complete his work” (Jn 4, 34). The first thing is to respond to the people who look for him. Then he can eat.
• Then Jesus began to teach them many things. The Gospel of Mark tells us many things that Jesus taught. The people were impressed: “A new teaching! He taught them with authority! It was unlike that of the Scribes!” (Mk 1, 22.27). Teaching was what Jesus did the most (Mk 2, 13; 4, 1-2; 6, 34). This is what he usually did (Mk 10, 1). For other fifteen times Mark says that Jesus taught. Was it perhaps because Mark was not interested in the content? It depends on what people understand when they speak about content! To teach is not only a question of teaching new truths in order to say something. The content which Jesus gave did not only appear in his words, but also in his gestures and in his way of relating with persons. The content is never separated from the person who communicates it. Jesus was a welcoming person (Mk 6, 34). He wanted the good of the people. The goodness and the love which came from his words formed part of the content. They were his temperament. A good content, without goodness and kindness would be like milk poured on the floor. This new way which Jesus had of teaching manifested itself in a thousand ways. Jesus accepts as disciples not only men, but also women. He does not only teach in the synagogue, but also in any place where there were people to listen to him: in the synagogue, in the house, on the shore, on the mountain, on the plain, in the boat, in the desert. It was not the relationship of pupil-teacher, but of disciple to Master. The professor teaches and the pupil is with him during the time of the class. The Master gives witness and the disciple lives with him 24 hours a day. It is more difficult to be a Master than a teacher! We are not pupils of Jesus, we are his disciples! The teaching of Jesus was a communication that came from the abundance of his Heart in the most varied forms: like a conversation by which he tries to clarify the facts (Mk 9, 9-13), like a comparison or parable that invites people to think and to participate (Mk 4, 33), like an explanation of what he himself thought and did (Mk 7, 17-23), like a discussion which does not necessarily avoid polemics (Mk 2, 6-12), like a criticism that denounces what is false and mistaken (Mk 12, 38-40). It was always a witness of what he himself lived, an expression of his love! (Mt 11, 28-30). 4) Personal questions
• What do you do when you want to teach others something about your faith and of your religion? Do you imitate Jesus?
• Jesus is concerned not only about the content, but also about rest. How was the teaching of religion that you received as a child? Did the catechists imitate Jesus? 5) Concluding prayer
How can a young man keep his way spotless?
By keeping your words.
With all my heart I seek you,
do not let me stray from your commandments. (Ps 119,9-10) |
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1) Opening prayer
Lord our God,
help us to love you with all our hearts
and to love all men as you love them.
We ask this through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son,
who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,
one God, for ever and ever. Amen. 2) Gospel reading - Mark 6,14-29
King Herod had heard about him, since by now his name was well known. Some were saying, 'John the Baptist has risen from the dead, and that is why miraculous powers are at work in him.' Others said, 'He is Elijah,' others again, 'He is a prophet, like the prophets we used to have.' But when Herod heard this he said, 'It is John whose head I cut off; he has risen from the dead.'
Now it was this same Herod who had sent to have John arrested, and had had him chained up in prison because of Herodias, his brother Philip's wife whom he had married. For John had told Herod, 'It is against the law for you to have your brother's wife.'
As for Herodias, she was furious with him and wanted to kill him, but she was not able to do so, because Herod was in awe of John, knowing him to be a good and upright man, and gave him his protection. When he had heard him speak he was greatly perplexed, and yet he liked to listen to him.
An opportunity came on Herod's birthday when he gave a banquet for the nobles of his court, for his army officers and for the leading figures in Galilee. When the daughter of this same Herodias came in and danced, she delighted Herod and his guests; so the king said to the girl, 'Ask me anything you like and I will give it you.' And he swore her an oath, 'I will give you anything you ask, even half my kingdom.'
She went out and said to her mother, 'What shall I ask for?' She replied, 'The head of John the Baptist.' The girl at once rushed back to the king and made her request, 'I want you to give me John the Baptist's head, immediately, on a dish.'
The king was deeply distressed but, thinking of the oaths he had sworn and of his guests, he was reluctant to break his word to her. At once the king sent one of the bodyguard with orders to bring John's head.
The man went off and beheaded him in the prison; then he brought the head on a dish and gave it to the girl, and the girl gave it to her mother.
When John's disciples heard about this, they came and took his body and laid it in a tomb. 3) Reflection
• The Gospel today describes how John the Baptist was victim of the corruption and of the arrogance of the Government of Herod. He died without being judged by a tribunal, in the course of a banquet given by Herod with the great men of the kingdom. The text gives much information about the time of the life of Jesus and on the way in which the powerful of the time exercised power. From the beginning of the Gospel of Mark we perceive or see a situation of suspense. He had said: “After John had been arrested, Jesus went into Galilee proclaiming the Gospel of God!” (Mk 1, 14). In today’s Gospel, almost suddenly, we know that Herod had already killed John the Baptist. Therefore, the reader asks himself: “What will he do now with Jesus? Will he suffer the same destiny? Rather than drawing up a balance of the opinions of the people and of Herod on Jesus, Mark asks another question: “Who is Jesus?” This last question grows throughout the Gospel until it receives the definitive response from the centurion at the foot of the Cross: “Truly, this man was the Son of God!” (Mk 15, 39)
• Mark 6, 14-16. Who is Jesus? The text begins with a balance on the opinions of the people and of Herod on Jesus. Some associated Jesus to John the Baptist and to Elijah. Others identified him with a Prophet, that is, with someone who spoke in the name of God, who had the courage to denounce the injustices of the powerful and who knew how to animate the hope of the little ones. Persons tried to understand Jesus starting from the things that they themselves knew, believed and hoped. They tried to make him fit into familiar criteria of the Old Testament with its prophecies and its hopes, and of the Tradition of the Ancient, with their laws. But these criteria were not sufficient. Jesus could not fit in those criteria. He was much greater!
• Mark 6, 17-20. The cause for the killing of John. Galilee, the land of Jesus, was governed by Herod Antipas, the son of King Herod, the Great, from the year 4 BC up to the year 39 after Christ. In all, 43 years! During the whole life time of Jesus, there had been no changes in the government of Galilee! Herod Antipas was the absolute Lord of everything; he listened to no one and did whatever he pleased! But the one, who really commanded in Palestine, from the year 63 BC, was the Roman Empire. Herod, in order not to be removed from office, tried to please Rome in everything. He insisted above all, in an efficient administration which would provide income for the Roman Empire. The only thing that concerned or worried him was his security and promotion. This is why he repressed any type of subversion. Falvio Giuseppe, a writer of that time, says that the reason for the imprisonment of John the Baptist was the fear that Herod had of a popular revolt. Herod liked to be called benefactor of the people, but in reality he was a tyrant (Lk 22, 25). The denouncement of John against him (Mk 6, 18), was the drop which filled up the cup, and John was thrown into prison.
• Mark 6, 21-29: The plot of the murdering. The anniversary and the banquet of the feast, with dancing and orgies! This was an environment in which the alliances were plotted. To the feast attended and were present “the great of the court, the officials and important persons from Galilee”. In this environment the murdering of John the Baptist was plotted. John, the prophet, was a living denouncement in this corrupt system. This is why he was eliminated under the pretext of a problem of personal vengeance. All this reveals the moral weakness of Herod. So much power accumulated in the hands of a man who did not control himself! Under the enthusiasm of the feast and of the wine, Herod swore lightly to give something to the young dancer. And superstitious as he was, he thought that he had to maintain his oath. For Herod, the life of his subjects counted nothing had no value. He used them as he wanted and decided what to do with them just as he decided where to place the chairs in his house. Mark gives an account of how things happened and lets the community draw the conclusions. 4) Personal questions
• Do you know the case of persons who have died victims of corruption and of the dominion of the powerful? And do you know persons in our community and in our Church victims of authoritarianism and of an excess of power?
• Herod, the powerful who thought to be the owner of life and death of the people, was a great superstitious person, and feared John the Baptist. He was a coward before the great, a corrupt man before the girl. Superstition, cowardice, and corruption distinguished the exercise of the power of Herod. Compare this with the religious and civil power today in the various levels of society and of the Church. 5) Concluding prayer
This God, his way is blameless;
the word of Yahweh is refined in the furnace,
for he alone is the shield of all who take refuge in him. (Ps 18,30) |
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1) Opening prayer
Lord our God,
help us to love you with all our hearts
and to love all men as you love them.
We ask this through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son,
who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,
one God, for ever and ever. Amen. 2) Gospel reading - Mark 6,7-13
Jesus summoned the Twelve and began to send them out in pairs, giving them authority over unclean spirits. And he instructed them to take nothing for the journey except a staff -- no bread, no haversack, no coppers for their purses. They were to wear sandals but, he added, 'Don't take a spare tunic.' And he said to them, 'If you enter a house anywhere, stay there until you leave the district. And if any place does not welcome you and people refuse to listen to you, as you walk away shake off the dust under your feet as evidence to them.' So they set off to proclaim repentance; and they cast out many devils, and anointed many sick people with oil and cured them. 3) Reflection
• Today’s Gospel continues what we have already seen in the Gospel yesterday. The passage through Nazareth was painful for Jesus. He was rejected by his own people (Mk 6, 1-5). The community which before had been his community, now, it is no longer such. Something has changed. Beginning at that moment, as today’s Gospel says, Jesus began to go round the villages of Galilee to announce the Good News (Mk 6, 6) and to send the Twelve on mission. In the years 70’s, the time when Mark wrote his Gospel, the Christian communities lived in a difficult situation, without any horizon. Humanly speaking, here was no future for them. In the year 64, Nero began to persecute the Christians. In the year 65, the revolt or uprising of the Jews in Palestine against Rome broke out. In the year 70, Jerusalem was completely destroyed by the Romans. This is why the description of the sending out of the disciples, after the conflict in Nazareth, was a source of light and of courage for the Christians.
• Mark 6, 7. The objective of the Mission. The conflict grew and closely affected Jesus. How does he react? In two ways: 1) Before the mental obstinacy of the people of his community, Jesus leaves Nazareth and began to go round the neighbouring villages (Mk 6, 6). 2) He extends the mission and intensifies the announcement of the Good News calling other persons to involve them in the mission. “He summoned the Twelve, and began to send them out in pairs, giving them authority over unclean spirits”. The objective of the mission is simple and profound. The disciples participate in the mission of Jesus. They cannot go alone, they have to go in pairs, two by two, because two persons represent the community better than one alone and they can mutually help one another. They receive authority over unclean spirits, that is, they have to be a help for others in suffering and, through purification, and they have to open the door for direct access to God.
• Mark 6, 8-11. The attitudes which they should have in the Mission. The recommendations are simple: “And he instructed them to take nothing for the journey except a staff; no bread, no haversack, no coppers for their purses; they were to wear sandals and not to take a spare tunic. And he told them: If you enter a house anywhere, stay there until you leave the district. And if any place does not welcome you and people refuse to listen to you, as you walk away, shake off the dust under your feet, as evidence to them”. So they set off. It is the beginning of a new stage. Now, not only Jesus, but the whole group will announce the Good News of God to the people. If the preaching of Jesus caused conflict, much more now, there will be conflict with the preaching of the whole group. If the mystery was already great, now it will be greater since the mission has been intensified.
• Mark 6, 12-13. The result of the mission. “So they set off to proclaim repentance, and they cast out many devils, and anointed many sick people with oil and cured them.” To announce the Good News, produces conversion or a change in persons, it alleviates persons in their suffering; it cures illnesses and casts out devils.
• The sending out of the disciples on Mission. At the time of Jesus there were several other movements of renewal. For example, the Essens and the Pharisees. They also sought a new way of living in community and they had their own missionaries (cf. Mt 23, 15). But these, when they went on mission, they had prejudices. They took with them a haversack and money to take care of their own meals, because they did not trust the food that people would give them, which was not always ritually “pure”. On the contrary to other missionaries, the disciples of Jesus received diverse recommendations which helped to understand the fundamental points of the mission of announcing the Good News, which they received from Jesus and which is also our mission:
a) They should go without taking anything. They should take nothing, no haversack, no money, no staff, no bread, no sandals, not two tunics. That meant that Jesus obliged them to trust in hospitality. Because one who goes without taking anything, goes because he trusts people and thinks that he will be well received. With this attitude they criticized the laws of exclusion, taught by the official religion, and showed, by means of the new practice, that they in the community had other criteria.
b) They should eat what people ate or what the people gave them. They could not live separated providing their own food, but they should accept to sit at the same table (Lk 10, 8). This means that in contact with the people, they should not be afraid of losing the purity as it was taught at that time. With this attitude they criticized the laws of purity which were in force and showed, by means of the new practice, that they had another type of access to purity, that is, intimacy with God.
c) They should remain in the first house that welcomed them. They should live together in a stable way and not go from house to house. They should work like everybody else and live from what they received in exchange, “because the labourer deserves his wages” (Lk 10, 7). In other words, they should participate in the life and in the work of the people, and the people would have accepted them in the community and would have shared the food with them. This means that they had to have trust in sharing.
d) They should take care of the sick, cure the lepers and cast out devils (Lk 10, 9; Mc 6, 7.13; Mt 10, 8). They had to carry out the function of “Defender” (goêl) and accept within the clan, in the community, those who were excluded. With this attitude they criticized the situation of disintegration of the community life of the clan and they aimed at concrete ways of getting out. These were the four fundamental points which had to give impulse to the attitude of the missionaries who announced the Good News of God, in the name of Jesus: hospitality, communion, sharing and acceptance of the excluded (defender, goêl). If these four requirements were respected, they could and should cry out to the four ends of the world: “The Kingdom of God has come!” (cf. Lk 10, 1-12; 9, 1-6; Mk 6, 7-13; Mt 10, 6-16). Because the Kingdom of God revealed by Jesus is not a doctrine, nor a catechism, nor a law. The Kingdom of God comes and becomes present when persons, motivated by their faith in Jesus, decide to live in community to give witness and to manifest to all that God is Father and Mother and that, therefore, we human beings are brothers and sisters among us. Jesus wanted that the local community would again be an expression of the Covenant, of the Kingdom, of the love of God the Father, who makes all of us brothers and sisters. 4) Personal questions
• Do you participate in the mission as a disciple of Jesus?
• Which point of the mission of the apostles is more important for us today? Why? 5) Concluding prayer
Great is Yahweh and most worthy of praise in the city of our God,
the holy mountain,
towering in beauty,
the joy of the whole world. (Ps 48,1-2) |
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1) Opening prayer
God our Father,
may we love you in all things and above all things
and reach the joy you have prepared for us
beyond all our imagining.
We ask this through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son,
who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,
one God, for ever and ever. Amen. 2) Gospel Reading - Matthew 22,34-40
The Pharisees heard that he had silenced the Sadducees they got together and, to put him to the test, one of them put a further question, 'Master, which is the greatest commandment of the Law?'
Jesus said to him, 'You must love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the greatest and the first commandment. The second resembles it: You must love your neighbour as yourself. On these two commandments hang the whole Law, and the Prophets too.' 3) Reflection
• The text is enlightened. Jesus is in Jerusalem and precisely in the Temple where a process between he and his adversaries is taking place, the chief priests and the Scribes (20, 18; 21, 15), between the chief priests and the elders of the people (21, 23) and between the chief priests and the Pharisees (21, 45). The point of controversy of the debate is: the identity of Jesus or of the Son of David, the origin of his identity, and, therefore, the question regarding the nature of the Kingdom of God. The evangelist presents this plot of debates with a sequence of controversies that present a growing rhythm: the tribute to be paid to Caesar (22, 15-22), the resurrection of the dead (22, 23-33), the greatest commandment (22, 34-40), the Messiah, son and Lord of David (22, 41-46). The protagonists of the first three discussions are representatives of the official Judaism who try to place Jesus in difficulty on some crucial questions. These disputes are addressed to Jesus in so far as he is “Master” (Rabbi), this title tells the reader the understanding that the interlocutors have of Jesus. But Jesus takes this occasion to lead them to ask themselves a more crucial question: the last time they took position concerning his identity (22, 41-46).
• The greatest commandment. On the trail of the Sadducees who have preceded, the Pharisees ask Jesus a burning question: which is the greatest commandment? The Rabbis always first made evident the multiplicity of the prescriptions (248 commandments) the question is asked to Jesus regarding which is the fundamental precept. Just the same the Rabbis themselves had created a true survey to reduce them as far as possible: David lists eleven (Ps 15, 2-5), Isaiah six (Is 33, 15), Micah three (Mi 6, 8), Amos two (Am 5, 4) and Habakkuk only one (Hab 2, 4). But the intention of the Pharisees regarding their question, goes beyond every type of survey, it is a question of the essence itself of the prescriptions. Jesus, in answering binds together love of God and love of neighbour, so much so as to unite them in only one, but without renouncing to give priority to the first one, which subordinates, in a close way, the second one. Thus, all the prescriptions of the Law, they were 613, are placed in relationship with this unique commandment: the whole Law finds its significance and foundation in the one of love. Jesus carries out a process of simplification of all the precepts of the Law: anyone who puts into practice the only commandment of love does not only observe the Law, but also the prophets (v. 40). Just the same, the novelty of the response is not so much in the material content as in its realization: in Jesus, the love of God and love of neighbour have their own context, their last solidity. That is to say, that God’s love and of neighbour, shown and realized in some way in his person, guides man to place himself before God and before others through love. The only commandment in two, God’s love and love for neighbour, become the supporting column, not only of the Scriptures, but also of the life of the Christian. 4) Personal questions
• Is love for God and for neighbour only a vague sentiment, an emotion, a passing motion or a reality that affirms your whole person: heart, will, intelligence and human relationships?
• You were created out of love. Are you aware that your fulfilment takes place in God’s love, to love Him with the whole heart, with the whole soul, with the whole mind? Such a love demands a confirmation of charity toward the brothers and sisters and their situation of life. Do you practice this in daily life? 5) Concluding Prayer
Let them thank Yahweh for his faithful love,
for his wonders for the children of Adam!
He has fed the hungry to their hearts' content,
filled the starving with good things. (Ps 107,8-9) |
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Something to think about!
Let us not discover we have souls until we have lost them. - A. Aranha
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Daily Bread 
