January 14, 2021 Thursday of the First Week in Ordinary Time

2021년 1월 14일 연중 제1주간 목요일

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

제1독서
히브리서.3,7-14
 형제 여러분, 7 성령께서 말씀하시는 그대로입니다.

“오늘 너희가 그분의 소리를 듣거든
8 마음을 완고하게 갖지 마라, 광야에서 시험하던 날처럼, 반항하던 때처럼.
9 거기에서 너희 조상들은 내가 한 일을 보고서도 나를 떠보며 시험하였다.
10 사십 년 동안 그리하였다. 그래서 나는 그 세대에게 화가 나 말하였다.
‘언제나 마음이 빗나간 자들, 그들은 내 길을 깨닫지 못하였다.’
11 그리하여 나는 분노하며 맹세하였다.
‘그들은 내 안식처에 들어가지 못하리라.’”
12 형제 여러분, 여러분 가운데에는 믿지 않는 악한 마음을 품고서
살아 계신 하느님을 저버리는 사람이 없도록 조심하십시오.
13 “오늘”이라는 말이 들리는 한 여러분은 날마다 서로 격려하여,
죄의 속임수에 넘어가 완고해지는 사람이 하나도 없도록 하십시오.
14 우리는 그리스도의 동료가 된 사람들입니다.
처음의 결심을 끝까지 굳건히 지니는 한 그렇습니다.

복음
마르코 1,40-45
 그때에 40 어떤 나병 환자가 예수님께 와서 도움을 청하였다.

그가 무릎을 꿇고 이렇게 말하였다.
“스승님께서는 하고자 하시면 저를 깨끗하게 하실 수 있습니다.”
41 예수님께서 가엾은 마음이 드셔서 손을 내밀어 그에게 대시며 말씀하셨다.
“내가 하고자 하니 깨끗하게 되어라.”
42 그러자 바로 나병이 가시고 그가 깨끗하게 되었다.
43 예수님께서는 그를 곧 돌려보내시며 단단히 이르셨다.
44 그에게 이렇게 말씀하셨다.
“누구에게든 아무 말도 하지 않도록 조심하여라.
다만 사제에게 가서 네 몸을 보이고,
네가 깨끗해진 것과 관련하여 모세가 명령한 예물을 바쳐,
그들에게 증거가 되게 하여라.”
45 그러나 그는 떠나가서 이 이야기를 널리 알리고 퍼뜨리기 시작하였다.
그리하여 예수님께서는 더 이상 드러나게 고을로 들어가지 못하시고,
바깥 외딴곳에 머무르셨다.
그래도 사람들은 사방에서 그분께 모여들었다.

January 14, 2021 

Thursday of the First 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

Heb 3:7-14

The Holy Spirit says:
Oh, that today you would hear his voice,
“Harden not your hearts as at the rebellion
in the day of testing in the desert,
where your ancestors tested and tried me
and saw my works for forty years.
Because of this I was provoked with that generation
and I said, ‘They have always been of erring heart,
and they do not know my ways.’
As I swore in my wrath,
‘They shall not enter into my rest.’”
Take care, brothers and sisters,
that none of you may have an evil and unfaithful heart,
so as to forsake the living God.
Encourage yourselves daily while it is still “today,”
so that none of you may grow hardened by the deceit of sin.
We have become partners of Christ
if only we hold the beginning of the reality firm until the end.

Responsorial Psalm

Ps 95:6-7c, 8-9, 10-11

R. (8) If today you hear his voice, harden not your hearts.
Come, let us bow down in worship;
let us kneel before the LORD who made us.
For he is our God,
and we are the people he shepherds, the flock he guides.
R. If today you hear his voice, harden not your hearts.
Oh, that today you would hear his voice:
“Harden not your hearts as at Meribah,
as in the day of Massah in the desert,
Where your fathers tempted me;
they tested me though they had seen my works.” 
R. If today you hear his voice, harden not your hearts.
Forty years I was wearied of that generation;
I said: “This people’s heart goes astray,
they do not know my ways.”
Therefore I swore in my anger:
“They shall never enter my rest.”
R. If today you hear his voice, harden not your hearts.

Gospel

Mk 1:40-45

A leper came to him and kneeling down begged him and said,
“If you wish, you can make me clean.”
Moved with pity, he stretched out his hand,
touched the leper, and said to him, 
“I do will it. Be made clean.”
The leprosy left him immediately, and he was made clean.
Then, warning him sternly, he dismissed him at once.
Then he said to him, “See that you tell no one anything,
but go, show yourself to the priest
and offer for your cleansing what Moses prescribed;
that will be proof for them.”
The man went away and began to publicize the whole matter.
He spread the report abroad
so that it was impossible for Jesus to enter a town openly.
He remained outside in deserted places,
and people kept coming to him from everywhere.

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

 “If today you hear his voice, harden not your hearts.” It’s been a difficult time. It’s been hard to stay hopeful. It would be easy to harden our hearts, to give up hope. But I hope, I think there is hope. It’s a new year, there are new developments. There’s a vaccine. Perhaps we can permit ourselves some hope.

In the gospel, Jesus heals a leper. Leprosy was a horrible and isolating disease. It was incurable and contagious. Its victims were not permitted in society and were considered unclean. In fact, they had to call “Unclean, Unclean” to warn people of their presence so they could keep appropriate distance. But a leper came to Jesus (which was against the rules of social distancing) and recognized his healing abilities. The leper said, “If you wish, you can make me clean.” And Jesus did. He said, “I will do it. Be clean.” The leper heard his voice. He recognized that Jesus could change his life. Even though Jesus told him to go straight to the priest, the leper was so excited at his cure that he told everyone. He could now be among society again. He did not harden his heart; he heard his voice and responded. He was now clean, he was free. Of course now everyone wanted healing and Jesus was overwhelmed as people kept coming to him from everywhere. They heard his voice. They did not harden their hearts. The leper permitted himself hope where there was no hope. There was no cure, but Jesus made him clean. He heard his voice, and his heart was made light.

“Today is the day, and now the proper hour, to forsake our sinful lives and turn to the Lord.”  Every day we should listen for his voice. “If today you hear his voice, harden not your hearts.”

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

 

THE APPROACHABLE FOR THE UNTOUCHABLE

“A leper approached Him with a request.” —Mark 1:40

Lepers were obliged by the law to stay away from people so as not to spread leprosy. Lepers had to live in isolated places and warn anyone who unknowingly got near them that they were unclean (Lv 13:45). The leper of today’s Gospel does just the opposite; he approaches Jesus. Jesus also does the unthinkable by stretching out His hand and touching the leper (Mk 1:41).

Jesus is approachable no matter what our condition. Jesus will never reject us no matter who we are, what we’ve done, or how we look (Jn 6:37). Most people have a form of spiritual leprosy. Inside, many of us feel dirty, ugly, leprous. We would not tell anyone about this for fear of being rejected by everyone. However, we can take these shameful things to Jesus.

We can “come as we are” to Jesus so we don’t “stay as we are.” He will forgive our sins and heal our leprous condition.

Prayer:  Jesus, may I go to Confession as soon as possible and be healed.

Promise:  “We have become partners of Christ only if we maintain to the end that confidence with which we began.” —Heb 3:14

Praise:  Jesus instantly healed Rhonda of hip pain at a healing service.

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

 Do you seek the Lord Jesus with expectant faith? No one who sought Jesus out was refused his help. Even the untouchables and the outcasts of Jewish society found help in him. Unlike the people of Jesus' time who fled at the sight of a leper, Jesus touched the leper who approached him and he made him whole and clean. Why was this so remarkable? Lepers were outcasts of society. They were driven from their homes and communities and left to fend for themselves. Their physical condition was terrible as they slowly lost the use of their limbs and withered away. They were not only shunned but regarded as "already dead" even by their relatives. The Jewish law forbade anyone from touching or approaching a leper, lest ritual defilement occur.

This leper did something quite remarkable. He approached Jesus confidently and humbly, expecting that Jesus could and would heal him. Normally a leper would be stoned or at least warded off if he tried to come near a rabbi. Jesus not only grants the man his request, but he demonstrates the personal love, compassion, and tenderness of God in his physical touch. The medical knowledge of his day would have regarded such contact as grave risk for incurring infection. Jesus met the man's misery with compassion and tender kindness. He communicated the love and mercy of God in a sign that spoke more eloquently than words. He touched the man and made him clean - not only physically but spiritually as well.

How do you approach those who are difficult to love, or who are shunned by others because they are deformed or have some defect? Do you show them kindness and offer them mercy and help as Jesus did? The Lord is always ready to show us his mercy and to free us from whatever makes us unclean, unapproachable, or unloving towards others.

Lord Jesus, inflame my heart with your love and make me clean and whole in body, mind, and spirit. May I never doubt your love nor cease to tell others of your mercy and compassion.

Psalm 44: 10-11, 14-15, 25-26

10 You have made us turn back from the foe; and our enemies have gotten spoil.
11 You have made us like sheep for slaughter, and have scattered us among the nations.
14 You have made us a byword among the nations, a laughingstock among the peoples.
15 All day long my disgrace is before me, and shame has covered my face,
25 For our soul is bowed down to the dust; our body cleaves to the ground.
26 Rise up, come to our help! Deliver us for the sake of your steadfast love!

Daily Quote from the Early Church Fathers: Why did Jesus touch the leper, by Origen of Alexandria (185-254 AD)

And why did [Jesus] touch him, since the law forbade the touching of a leper? He touched him to show that 'all things are clean to the clean' (Titus 1:15). Because the filth that is in one person does not adhere to others, nor does external uncleanness defile the clean of heart. So he touches him in his untouchability, that he might instruct us in humility; that he might teach us that we should despise no one, or abhor them, or regard them as pitiable, because of some wound of their body or some blemish for which they might be called to render an account... So, stretching forth his hand to touch, the leprosy immediately departs. The hand of the Lord is found to have touched not a leper, but a body made clean! Let us consider here, beloved, if there be anyone here that has the taint of leprosy in his soul, or the contamination of guilt in his heart? If he has, instantly adoring God, let him say: 'Lord, if you will, you can make me clean.' (excerpt from FRAGMENTS ON MATTHEW 2.2-3)

 

 

More Homilies

January 17, 2019