February 18, 2020 Tuesday of the sixth Week in Ordinary Time

2020년 2월 18일 연중 제6주간 화요일  

오늘의 복음 : http://info.catholic.or.kr/missa/default.asp 

제1독서

  야고보서. 1,12-18
12 시련을 견디어 내는 사람은 행복합니다.
그렇게 시험을 통과하면, 그는 하느님께서 당신을 사랑하는 이들에게 약속하신
생명의 화관을 받을 것입니다.
13 유혹을 받을 때에 “나는 하느님께 유혹을 받고 있다.” 하고 말해서는 안 됩니다.
하느님께서는 악의 유혹을 받으실 분도 아니시고,
또 아무도 유혹하지 않으십니다.
14 사람은 저마다 자기 욕망에 사로잡혀 꼬임에 넘어가는 바람에
유혹을 받는 것입니다.
15 그리고 욕망은 잉태하여 죄를 낳고, 죄가 다 자라면 죽음을 낳습니다.
16 나의 사랑하는 형제 여러분, 착각하지 마십시오.
17 온갖 좋은 선물과 모든 완전한 은사는 위에서 옵니다.
빛의 아버지에게서 내려오는 것입니다.
그분께는 변화도 없고 변동에 따른 그림자도 없습니다.
18 하느님께서는 뜻을 정하시고 진리의 말씀으로 우리를 낳으시어,
우리가 당신의 피조물 가운데 이를테면 첫 열매가 되게 하셨습니다.

 

복음

 마르코. 8,14-21
그때에 14 제자들이 빵을 가져오는 것을 잊어버려,
그들이 가진 빵이 배 안에는 한 개밖에 없었다.
15 예수님께서 그들에게, “너희는 주의하여라.
바리사이들의 누룩과 헤로데의 누룩을 조심하여라.” 하고 분부하셨다.
16 그러자 제자들은 자기들에게 빵이 없다고 서로 수군거렸다.
17 예수님께서는 그것을 아시고 그들에게 말씀하셨다.
“너희는 어찌하여 빵이 없다고 수군거리느냐?
아직도 이해하지 못하고 깨닫지 못하느냐? 너희 마음이 그렇게도 완고하냐?
18 너희는 눈이 있어도 보지 못하고 귀가 있어도 듣지 못하느냐?
너희는 기억하지 못하느냐?
19 내가 빵 다섯 개를 오천 명에게 떼어 주었을 때,
빵 조각을 몇 광주리나 가득 거두었느냐?”
그들이 “열둘입니다.” 하고 대답하였다.
20 “빵 일곱 개를 사천 명에게 떼어 주었을 때에는,
빵 조각을 몇 바구니나 가득 거두었느냐?”그들이 “일곱입니다.” 하고 대답하자,
21 예수님께서 그들에게 말씀하셨다. “너희는 아직도 깨닫지 못하느냐?”

February 18, 2020

Tuesday of the sixth Week in Ordinary Time

Daily Readings — Audio

Daily Reflections — Video

http://www.usccb.org/bible/ 

Daily Mass : http://www.catholictv.com/shows/daily-mass 

Reading 1 

Jas 1:12-18

Blessed is he who perseveres in temptation,
for when he has been proven he will receive the crown of life 
that he promised to those who love him.
No one experiencing temptation should say,
"I am being tempted by God";
for God is not subject to temptation to evil,
and he himself tempts no one.
Rather, each person is tempted when lured and enticed by his desire.
Then desire conceives and brings forth sin,
and when sin reaches maturity it gives birth to death.
Do not be deceived, my beloved brothers and sisters:
all good giving and every perfect gift is from above,
coming down from the Father of lights,
with whom there is no alteration or shadow caused by change.
He willed to give us birth by the word of truth
that we may be a kind of firstfruits of his creatures.

 

Responsorial Psalm 

Ps 94:12-13a, 14-15, 18-19

R. (12a) Blessed the man you instruct, O Lord.
Blessed the man whom you instruct, O LORD,
whom by your law you teach,
Giving him rest from evil days. 
R. Blessed the man you instruct, O Lord.
For the LORD will not cast off his people,
nor abandon his inheritance;
But judgment shall again be with justice,
and all the upright of heart shall follow it. 
R. Blessed the man you instruct, O Lord.
When I say, "My foot is slipping,"
your mercy, O LORD, sustains me;
When cares abound within me,
your comfort gladdens my soul. 
R. Blessed the man you instruct, O Lord.

 

Gospel 

Mk 8:14-21

The disciples had forgotten to bring bread,
and they had only one loaf with them in the boat.
Jesus enjoined them, "Watch out,
guard against the leaven of the Pharisees
and the leaven of Herod." 
They concluded among themselves that
it was because they had no bread.
When he became aware of this he said to them,
"Why do you conclude that it is because you have no bread?
Do you not yet understand or comprehend?
Are your hearts hardened?
Do you have eyes and not see, ears and not hear?
And do you not remember,
when I broke the five loaves for the five thousand,
how many wicker baskets full of fragments you picked up?"
They answered him, "Twelve."
"When I broke the seven loaves for the four thousand,
how many full baskets of fragments did you pick up?"
They answered him, "Seven."

He said to them, "Do you still not understand?"

http://evangeli.net/gospel/tomorrow

 «Beware of the yeast of the Pharisees»

Fr. Juan Carlos CLAVIJO Cifuentes
(Bogotá, Colombia)

Today, —once again— we can see the wisdom of our Lord Jesus. His behavior is amazing, as it is so different from the rest of the people…, it is original. He has just made some miracles and now He is going somewhere else where the Grace of God must also reach. In such a context of miracles, before a new group of people who is waiting, He warns them: «Keep your eyes open and beware of the yeast of the Pharisees and the yeast of Herod» (Mk 8:15), for they —the Pharisees and Herod’s— do not want the Grace of God to be known, and they rather spend all their time by spreading all over the World bad yeast while sowing discord.

Our faith does not depend on our deeds, for «a faith which we ourselves decide about is not a faith in absolute » (Benedict XVI). on the contrary, they are our deeds that depend upon our faith. To have a true and authentic faith implies an active and dynamic faith; not a conditioned faith that stays only on the surface, in the external appearance, that gets off the track… Ours must be a genuine faith. We must look at things with the eyes of God, not with the sinner man’s eyes: «Do you not see or understand? Are your minds closed?» (Mk 8:17).

The Kingdom of God expands in our World just as the yeast grows in the dough, without our knowing why. The authentic faith must be like that, a faith that grows in our love for God. Let nothing and nobody, therefore, befuddle us of the encounter with our Lord and His Redeemable message. Our Lord never misses an opportunity to teach and, today, He keeps on doing it: «We must free ourselves from the false idea that faith has nothing to say to today’s Men» (Benedict XVI).

«Have you eyes that don't see and ears that don't hear?»

+ Fr. Lluís ROQUÉ i Roqué
(Manresa, Barcelona, Spain)

Today, we see that Jesus —as often happened with the Apostles— was not always understood.

At times it is difficult. We may see wonders, be explained things crystal clear or receive a good doctrine. No matter, we deserve His scolding: «Do you not see or under­stand? Are your minds closed?» (Mk 8:17).

We would like to tell Him we understand Him and that our mind is not closed, but we do not dare to. Like the blind of the parable, we may ask Him, to listen to our pleading: «Lord, that I may see again» (Lk 18,41), to have faith and see; and, as the psalmist says: «Give me an eagerness for your decrees; do not inflict me with love for money!» (Ps 119:36) to have a good disposition, to listen, receive the Word of God and make it fruitful.

Today and always, it would be also good, to pay attention to Jesus' warning: «Keep your eyes open and beware of the yeast of the Pharisees» (Mk 8:15); the truth is so far away... We seem “fanatical believers”, who do not understand «God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in spirit and in truth» (Jn 4:23). We must also beware «of the yeast of Herod» which is proud, despotic, sensual, and only wants to see and feel Jesus to take pleasure in.

But, how to keep away from this “yeast”?. Well, just by doing a continuos, intelligent and pious evaluation of the Word of God which will let us grow individually «pious as infants: but not ignorants, because each one of us must try, to the best of his abilities, to seriously and scientifically study the faith (...). That is, to have the piety of children coupled with the doctrinal knowledge of a theologian» (Saint Josemaria).

Thus, enlighted and strengthened by the Holy Spirit, alerted and led by the good Shepherds, stimulated by all the faithful Christians, we shall believe what we ought to believe and we shall do what we ought to do. First, though, we must have the “desire” to see: «The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us» (Jn 1:14), visible, palpable; and the “desire” to listen: it was the Virgin Mary who was “the bait” that made Jesus say: «blessed are they that hear the word of God, and keep it» (Lk 11:28).

http://onlineministries.creighton.edu/CollaborativeMinistry/daily.html

 

Frequently, I express my gratitude for being able to write these reflections – the graces that I gain in the reading, reflecting, and writing.  The opportunity I have to examine my own faith and my faith journey is such a gift.  Today’s is no different – many graces with these readings on this particular day.  one bonus for me is that I was assigned my mother’s birthday.  If she were living she would be 107, however, she was born to eternal life nearly 27 years ago.  It is a perfect fit for me since the readings especially the gospel are about having faith, and she certainly had that!!

My mother’s faith was not that of a learned scholar, as a Catholic of her generation, she did not read the Bible rather she had beautiful Missals for mass and, of course, her ever present rosary and daily prayer book.  I think the greatest lesson from her for my faith was the idea of truly putting things into the hands of God.  She faced many struggles growing up and in early adulthood – I guess to be expected for the generation who lived through two World Wars, the Depression, Korean Conflict, Cold War and nuclear threats, and Viet Nam.  She lost siblings as a young child and was blessed to have her parents live until she was in her forties.  Perhaps the greatest challenge to her faith was the loss of her son (my brother) when he was only 20 years old while performing his duties as a linesman for the US Army.  While she was clearly devastated by the loss, her faith seemed unshaken.  She would often say that we can’t understand the plans of God and, of course, took comfort that my brother was in the arms of Jesus. She started her daily prayers for the dead in 1961 and had a tattered prayer booklet by her side when she died 32 years later. I lost track of how many she ordered over the years as she wore it out and would order replacements but NEVER failed to pray daily. 

My ability to always “put things in the hands of God” may falter at times, but I would like to believe that I model that faith for my children and grandchildren.  I was clearly enveloped in a cocoon of prayer at the end of last year and the beginning of 2020.  My “health scare” (a mass in my chest that was removed and found to be benign) was made tolerable because of so many prayers – they were truly palpable and I entered the pre-op area with a calm and positive feeling (my blood pressure wasn’t even elevated!!) – that is not me alone but me with 1000’s of prayer warriors protecting me.  When I arrived in my hospital room after recovery, my first nurse was Mary Joseph – now, come on, can it get any better than that?!

Our gospel has the disciples once again not understanding Jesus.  Rather, as soon as He mentions bread, they immediately think He is talking about the fact that they forgot the bread.  I had to do a little research on leaven and unleavened bread to truly understand what Jesus meant (so I guess I shouldn’t be too critical of the disciples).  If any of you have ever shared Friendship Bread where you pass on to others a bit of the sour dough batter so they have a starter, then you probably understand this concept.  The small amount of “leaven” from a particular batch of bread was saved for the next batch.  Quite simplified and probably not with all the nuances required, I understand that at Passover everything was new and thus unleavened bread – no more “influence” from the past.  Thus Jesus was telling them to not be influenced by Herod or the Pharisees in how to live their lives.  How often do we need to be reminded to not let such influences enter our lives and be absorbed into our being and our behavior?  Sometimes, we need to act as unleavened bread and be renewed as fresh.  We need to connect with the sacredness of all around us – to take off our shoes and walk on the Sacred Ground that Jesus has laid before us.  To let our Faith be greater than any of our fears!!

And to thank all the prayer warriors out there who are truly part of the Angel Army: 

Chris Tomlin’s Whom Shall I Fear (The God of Angel Armies)

 http://www.presentationministries.com/obob/obob.asp

THE HOLY SPIRIT OR TOTALITARIAN DICTATORS?

"The tug and lure of his own passion tempt every man." �James 1:14

Our desires are dangerous because they can conceive and bring forth sin (Jas 1:15). As sin grows, "it begets death" (Jas 1:15). We must control our desires, or we will live a living death (see 1 Jn 3:14). Naturally, our desires seek to be totalitarian dictators � to dictate every aspect of our lives. only the Lord, Who created our desires, can redeem them and free us from their determination for dictatorship. The Father through the Son sends the Holy Spirit to strongly fight in opposition to our natural, fallen desires (Gal 5:17). If we live in the Spirit (Gal 5:25) by living our Baptism, we crucify our "flesh with its passions and desires" (Gal 5:24). Thus, life is either freedom in the Spirit or slavery to desires. "Doing our own thing" is not freedom but thinly disguised slavery. Doing God's thing by the power of the Holy Spirit is a freedom so profound that it frees us even from death and for eternal life. Do you want true freedom? Then you want to deny yourself (Lk 9:23) and be docile to the Holy Spirit.

Prayer: Father, may I not be deceived into thinking that slavery is freedom.

Promise: "He wills to bring us to birth with a word spoken in truth so that we may be a kind of first fruits of His creatures." —Jas 1:18

Praise: Through the fervent intercession of his friends, Paul was set free from his addiction.

 http://dailyscripture.servantsoftheword.org/readings/

 "Beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and Herod"

 Do you allow anxiety or fear to keep you from trusting in God's provision for your life? The apostles worried because they forgot to bring bread for their journey. And that was right after Jesus miraculously fed a group of five thousand people (Mark 6:41-44, Matthew 14:17-21), and then on another occasion four thousand people (Mark 8:1-10, Matthew 15:34-38)! How easy it is to forget what God has already done for us and to doubt what he promises to do for us in the future as well. Scripture tells us that "perfect love casts out fear" (1 John 4:18). Ask the Lord Jesus to fill your heart with his love and to increase your faith in his provident care for you.

Beware the "leaven" which corrupts mind, body, and soul
Jesus cautioned the disciples to beware of bread that corrupts, such as the "leaven of the Pharisees." When leaven ferments a lump of wet dough, it transforms the dough and changes it into life-enriching bread when heated. Left-over dough which had been leavened (but not baked) would rot and become putrified. For the Jew leaven was a sign or symbol of evil influence. It signified anything which rots and corrupts, not just physically but spiritually and morally as well.

Jesus warned his disciples to avoid the way of the Pharisees and Sadducees who sought their own counsels rather than the mind of God. They were blinded by their own arrogance and were unable to recognize the truth and wisdom which Jesus spoke in the name of his Father in heaven. What kind of leaven (spiritual, moral, intellectual) do you allow to influence your way of thinking and living? Jesus sharply contrasts the bread and leaven which produces life, especially the abundant life which God offers through Jesus, the true bread of heaven, with the bread and leaven which rots and corrupts mind, body, and soul.

Let God's word nourish and strengthen you in faith, hope, and love
As the disciples continued to worry about their lack of physical bread for the journey, Jesus reminded them of his miraculous provision of bread in the feeding of the five thousand and the four thousand. He then upbraided them for their lack of trust in God. Aren't we like the apostles? We too easily get preoccupied with the problems, needs, and worries of the present moment, and we forget the most important reality of all - God's abiding presence with us!

When the people of Israel wandered in the desert homeless and helpless for forty years, God was with them every step of the way. And he provided for them shelter, food, water, and provision, as long as they trusted in him. Each day he gave them just what they needed. Jesus teaches us to trust in God's abiding presence with us and in his promise to provide us what we need each and every day to live as his sons and daughters. Do you pray with joyful confidence, "Father, give us this day our daily bread"?

"Lord Jesus, you alone are the true bread of life which sustains us each and every day. Give me joy and strength to serve you always and help me to turn away from the leaven of sin and worldliness which brings corruption and death."

Psalm 94:12-19

12 Blessed is the man whom you chasten, O LORD, and whom you teach out of your law
13 to give him respite from days of trouble, until a pit is dug for the wicked.
14 For the LORD will not forsake his people; he will not abandon his heritage;
15 for justice will return to the righteous, and all the upright in heart will follow it.
16 Who rises up for me against the wicked? Who stands up for me against evildoers?
17 If the LORD had not been my help, my soul would soon have dwelt in the land of silence.
18 When I thought, "My foot slips," your steadfast love, O LORD, held me up.
19 When the cares of my heart are many, your consolations cheer my soul.

Daily Quote from the early church fathers: Heed the truth of the Gospel, by Hilary of Poitiers (315-367 AD)

"The apostles are ordered to watch out for the leaven of the Pharisees and Sadducees. They are warned not to be involved in the disputes of the Jews. The works of the law are now to be viewed in the light of faith. They are forewarned that they, into whose time and age the truth had appeared incarnate, should judge nothing except which lies within the position of hope in likeness of the truth that is revealed. They are warned against allowing the doctrine of the Pharisees, who are unaware of Christ, to corrupt the effectiveness of the truth of the gospel." (excerpt from commentary ON MATTHEW 16.3)

  

More Homilies

February 13, 2018 Tuesday of the sixth Week in Ordinary Time