22 January Thursday TODAYS READINGS: DIDACHE | COMPANION | SABBATH DIDACHE ENDORSER OF CHRIST Hearing what he was doing, a large number of people came to him – Mark 3:8 What’s so special about this place? I thought to myself as we walked into the restaurant that my husband said was really popular. Yes, the place was packed and pictures of celebrities who came and dined there were posted on the wall. But to me, there was really nothing extraordinary about the place. But my opinion changed when our food was served. It was one of the best tasting meals I’ve ever had. I then understood why people kept coming to that place and recommend it to their friends. For over 2,000 years, Jesus holds the record for the most number of followers. Why? Because He never stopped performing miracles and people never got tired of sharing about them. Throughout history, we have seen many conversions because of their encounters with Jesus. And even to this day, the power of the Risen Christ transforms many lives. If you’re a believer, somehow, somewhere, someone must have introduced you to Christ. Now it’s your turn to introduce Him to your friends and loved ones. Jane Gonzales-Rauch (mgr516@gmail) Reflection: Don’t miss out on the opportunity to change someone’s life. Be an endorser of Christ. Almighty God, enable us with Your wisdom and courage as we invite more people to become disciples of Christ. Amen. St. Vincent, deacon and martyr, pray for us. Didache | Companion | Sabbath | Top COMPANION 1ST READING The holiness of Jesus is important in our understanding of the enduring nature of His sacrifice. If Jesus were not without sin, then His sacrifice would be imperfect and, thus, unable to save us. This is why the divinity of Christ is essential to our understanding of Jesus as the one sent by God the Father. He must be one with the Father in divinity, or else His sacrifice is limited and not able to cover all sins. Hebrews 7:25–8:6 25 Jesus is always able to save those who approach God through him, since he lives forever to make intercession for them. 26 It was fitting that we should have such a high priest: holy, innocent, undefiled, separated from sinners, higher than the heavens. 27 He has no need, as did the high priests, to offer sacrifice day after day, first for his own sins and then for those of the people; he did that once for all when he offered himself. 28 For the law appoints men subject to weakness to be high priests, but the word of the oath, which was taken after the law, appoints a son, who has been made perfect forever. 8:1 The main point of what has been said is this: we have such a high priest, who has taken his seat at the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in heaven, 2 a minister of the sanctuary and of the true tabernacle that the Lord, not man, set up. 3 Now every high priest is appointed to offer gifts and sacrifices; thus the necessity for this one also to have something to offer. 4 If then he were on earth, he would not be a priest, since there are those who offer gifts according to the law. 5 They worship in a copy and shadow of the heavenly sanctuary, as Moses was warned when he was about to erect the tabernacle. For God says, “See that you make everything according to the pattern shown you on the mountain.” 6 Now he has obtained so much more excellent a ministry as he is mediator of a better covenant, enacted on better promises. P S A L M Psalm 40:7-8, 8-9, 10, 17 R: Here am I, Lord; I come to do your will. 6[7] Sacrifice or oblation you wished not, but ears open to obedience you gave me. Burnt offerings or sin-offerings you sought not; 7[8] then said I, “Behold I come.” (R) “In the written scroll it is prescribed for me, 8[9] To do your will, O my God, is my delight, and your law is within my heart!” (R) 9[10] I announced your justice in the vast assembly; I did not restrain my lips, as you, O Lord, know. (R) 16[17]May all who seek you exult and be glad in you, And may those who love your salvation say ever, “The Lord be glorified.” (R) GOSPEL Mark mentions the multitude of healings that have occurred through the ministry of Jesus. He is preparing us for the naming of the Twelve Apostles who will travel and minister with Jesus. Why do they respond to Jesus’ call so freely? They have seen what He does and how He lives and believe Him to be someone very special. Miracles of healing were one way of attracting people to listen to what Jesus had to say. GOSPEL ACCLAMATION Our Savior Jesus Christ has destroyed death and brought life to light through the Gospel. Mark 3:7-12 7 Jesus withdrew toward the sea with his disciples. A large number of people followed from Galilee and from Judea. 8 Hearing what he was doing, a large number of people came to him also from Jerusalem, from Idumea, from beyond the Jordan, and from the neighborhood of Tyre and Sidon. 9 He told his disciples to have a boat ready for him because of the crowd, so that they would not crush him. 10 He had cured many and, as a result, those who had diseases were pressing upon him to touch him. 11 And whenever unclean spirits saw him they would fall down before him and shout, “You are the Son of God.” 12 He warned them sternly not to make him known. think: The divinity of Christ is essential to our understanding of Jesus as the one sent by God the Father. T O D A Y’S BLESSING LIST Thank You Lord for: __________________ ____________________________________ God’s special verse/thought for me today_ _____________________________________ READ THE BIBLE IN ONE YEAR John 17-21 Didache | Companion | Sabbath | Top SABBATH WITHDRAWING FROM THE CROWDS People who do a lot of caring work for others, known in our circles as ministry, need to do a lot of self-care, too. They also need to withdraw periodically from active ministry so as to be able to do more. Known to us pastoral counselors as “regression at the service of the ego,” sometimes the priest, brother or sister or any lay caregiver needs to “regress” to an earlier developmental stage to strengthen oneself to meet the challenges up ahead. The Lord was hemmed in from all sides. The only way out would be the Lake of Galilee. He asked for a boat at the ready in case the crowds press on further. There was a time to heal, a time to listen, a time to preach and teach, and a time to pray and to be alone. Jesus did all of the above. Somebody said that some priests (and nuns) behave as if they were the Messiah, always on the move, always on the go, always huffing and puffing their way to the next task, unable to sit still, unable to quiet down and reflect. Well, he has got bad news for them. The Messiah happened to have already been born, and He is not any one of us. The issue of boundaries is hard for Filipinos to understand. Our sense of space is very different from that of Westerners, particularly Americans. We live in very close proximity to each other. Many families, for various reasons, not necessarily economic, sleep together in the same room. The famous “boodle fight” that army men and women do is a clear example of this type of porous boundaries. No wonder it is difficult in many cases to define the area that is for common use, and that which is reserved. Just look at our streets and thoroughfares. They are as much streets as extensions of living areas of people who encroach on every available space. But physical boundaries is not primarily what I am reflecting on today. I am more referring to psychological and spiritual boundaries which the Lord Himself observed. Fr. Chito Dimaranan, SDB REFLECTION QUESTIONS: How often do you go for some form of self-care? How do you feel about caring for yourself? Just as You took time to withdraw and be alone to quiet down, help me to do the same, Lord, so that I may be able to give more in service.
Posted on: Thu, 22 Jan 2015 00:15:27 +0000
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