July 4, 2021 Fourteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time

2021년 7월 4일 연중 제14주일   

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

제1독서
에제키엘 2,2-5
2 그분께서 나에게 말씀하실 때, 영이 내 안으로 들어오셔서 나를 일으켜 세우셨다. 
그때 나는 그분께서 나에게 말씀하시는 것을 들었다. 
3 그분께서 나에게 이렇게 말씀하셨다. “사람의 아들아, 내가 이스라엘 자손들, 나를 반역해 온 저 반역의 민족에게 너를 보낸다. 그들은 저희 조상들처럼 오늘날까지 나를 거역해 왔다. 
4 얼굴이 뻔뻔하고 마음이 완고한 저 자손들에게 내가 너를 보낸다. 너는 그들에게 ‘주 하느님이 이렇게 말한다.’ 하고 말하여라. 5 그들이 듣든, 또는 그들이 반항의 집안이어서 듣지 않든, 자기들 가운데에 예언자가 있다는 사실만은 알게 될 것이다.”  

 

제2독서

2코린토 12,7ㄴ-10
형 제 여러분, 7 내가 자만하지 않도록 하느님께서 내 몸에 가시를 주셨습니다. 그것은 사탄의 하수인으로, 나를 줄곧 찔러 대 내가 자만하지 못하게 하시려는 것이었습니다. 8 이 일과 관련하여, 나는 그것이 나에게서 떠나게 해 주십사고 주님께 세 번이나 청하였습니다. 9 그러나 주님께서는, “너는 내 은총을 넉넉히 받았다. 나의 힘은 약한 데에서 완전히 드러난다.” 하고 말씀하셨습니다. 
그렇기 때문에 나는 그리스도의 힘이 나에게 머무를 수 있도록 더없이 기쁘게 나의 약점을 자랑하렵니다. 10 나는 그리스도를 위해서라면 약함도 모욕도 재난도 박해도 역경도 달갑게 여깁니다. 내가 약할 때에 오히려 강하기 때문입니다.

복음

마르코 6,1-6
그때에 1 예수님께서 고향으로 가셨는데 제자들도 그분을 따라갔다. 
2 안식일이 되자 예수님께서는 회당에서 가르치기 시작하셨다. 많은 이가 듣고는 놀라서 이렇게 말하였다. “저 사람이 어디서 저 모든 것을 얻었을까? 저런 지혜를 어디서 받았을까? 그의 손에서 저런 기적들이 일어나다니! 3 저 사람은 목수로서 마리아의 아들이며, 야고보, 요세, 유다, 시몬과 형제간이 아닌가? 그의 누이들도 우리와 함께 여기에 살고 있지 않는가?” 그러면서 그들은 그분을 못마땅하게 여겼다. 
4 그러자 예수님께서 그들에게 이르셨다. “예언자는 어디에서나 존경받지만 고향과 친척과 집안에서만은 존경받지 못한다.” 
5 그리하여 예수님께서는 그곳에서 몇몇 병자에게 손을 얹어서 병을 고쳐 주시는 것밖에는 아무런 기적도 일으킬 수 없었다. 6 그리고 그들이 믿지 않는 것에 놀라셨다.

July 4, 2021

Fourteenth Sunday 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
Ez 2:2-5
As the LORD spoke to me, the spirit entered into me
and set me on my feet,
and I heard the one who was speaking say to me:
Son of man, I am sending you to the Israelites,
rebels who have rebelled against me;
they and their ancestors have revolted against me to this very day.
Hard of face and obstinate of heart
are they to whom I am sending you. 
But you shall say to them: Thus says the LORD GOD! 
And whether they heed or resist?for they are a rebellious house?
they shall know that a prophet has been among them.

Responsorial Psalm
Ps 123:1-2, 2, 3-4
R. (2cd) Our eyes are fixed on the Lord, pleading for his mercy.
To you I lift up my eyes
who are enthroned in heaven ?
As the eyes of servants
are on the hands of their masters.
R. Our eyes are fixed on the Lord, pleading for his mercy.
As the eyes of a maid
are on the hands of her mistress,
So are our eyes on the LORD, our God,
till he have pity on us.
R. Our eyes are fixed on the Lord, pleading for his mercy.
Have pity on us, O LORD, have pity on us,
for we are more than sated with contempt;
our souls are more than sated
with the mockery of the arrogant,
with the contempt of the proud.
R. Our eyes are fixed on the Lord, pleading for his mercy.

Reading II
2 Cor 12:7-10

Brothers and sisters:
That I, Paul, might not become too elated,
because of the abundance of the revelations,
a thorn in the flesh was given to me, an angel of Satan,
to beat me, to keep me from being too elated. 
Three times I begged the Lord about this, that it might leave me,
but he said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you,
for power is made perfect in weakness." 
I will rather boast most gladly of my weaknesses,
in order that the power of Christ may dwell with me. 
Therefore, I am content with weaknesses, insults,
hardships, persecutions, and constraints,
for the sake of Christ;
for when I am weak, then I am strong.

Gospel
Mk 6:1-6
Jesus departed from there and came to his native place, accompanied by his disciples. 
When the sabbath came he began to teach in the synagogue,
and many who heard him were astonished. 
They said, "Where did this man get all this? 
What kind of wisdom has been given him? 
What mighty deeds are wrought by his hands! 
Is he not the carpenter, the son of Mary,
and the brother of James and Joses and Judas and Simon? 
And are not his sisters here with us?" 
And they took offense at him. 
Jesus said to them,
"A prophet is not without honor except in his native place
and among his own kin and in his own house." 
So he was not able to perform any mighty deed there,
apart from curing a few sick people by laying his hands on them.
He was amazed at their lack of faith.

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

 To me, the readings for today are about who God is, who Jesus is, and who we are, and how the Holy Spirit works to bring us closer together.  That is, if we are open to what that means in our lives.  We do not always pay attention even when the Lord speaks to us and empowers us.  Instead, we often fear what listening to God can mean in our lives.  It can put constraints on us, and it can make us vulnerable.  We do not like that.  We like to rely on our own power.  The prophet Ezekial knew well that the people in the Old Testament did not much like listening to God when the going got rough, or when things were going their way, for that matter.  It was his job to remind them sternly that the Lord had a message for their salvation and was still their God.  Ezekial proclaimed that his words were inspired by the Spirit of God.  Whether they heed or resist, the Lord said, they are going to know that a prophet has been among them.  Some did heed, and some did resist.

And then came Jesus, who was in addition to being the Christ, a good scholar and teacher of the Old Testament.  He knew well the problems prophets had, especially among their own people.  He too was experiencing the same thing.  Despite what Jesus could demonstrate in terms of God’s power, or the words He spoke inspired by the Holy Spirit, if the people did not like what they heard, they would either dismiss him or run him out of town.  So, if nothing changed in the human condition from the time of Ezekial to the time of Jesus, I am certain we are the same kind of people today.  If what we hear is not convenient to us, we still either dismiss Jesus and our modern prophets or run them out of town. 

The Psalm we read for today, then, is still highly relevant. When we fix our eyes on the Lord for anything, we must include a plead for mercy.  We have not listened very well.  We have been rebellious.  The good news is that we can still call upon the Lord and be heard.  That has been the constant from the beginning.  And yet, we are living in more enlightened times since Jesus came to be our teacher and savior.  With the gift of the Holy Spirit, we can do better than the rebelliousness of the Old Testament.  We have more detailed instructions in the New Testament on how to build our communities around Christ and live out our faith more confidently.  That is not easy.  In order to live out our faith more boldly, Paul reminds us we are going to have to let that faith put constraints on our wills and allow ourselves to be made vulnerable.  We are going to have to take up our crosses with Jesus and let the Spirit work through our weaknesses. 

Today, I pray that we, like Paul, can learn through our own life experiences with the Spirit that power is not something that we have that we guard against weakness by our human strength.  It is a spiritual power we gain through accepting our human weakness.  Life does not have to wear us down.  With Christ, it can make us stronger.  No matter what happens to us in this life, we can not only hear, but be agents of, the good news to the poor that Jesus brings.  Through Jesus, we have been made strong enough. 

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

 

“ENOUGH” (LK 22:38)

“My grace is enough for you.” —2 Corinthians 12:9

Alleluia! Today is Resurrection day, the weekly celebration of that first Easter morning when Jesus rose from the tomb, triumphed over sin and death, and made all things new for us. Today is a day of unity, when believers from all over this earth gather to worship almighty God, listen to His living, all-powerful Word, and receive the Bread of Life, Jesus Himself (Jn 6:35). Today we learn again that God loves us so much that He can never give us enough of His blessings. Alleluia!

How wonderful is God’s plan for this day! How can it be that people will walk away from God’s house today saying disgustedly, “I’ve had enough of this church,” rather than, “Your grace is enough for me”? The difference is revealed in today’s psalm response. When our eyes are fixed on Jesus as Lord (Ps 123:2; Heb 12:2) in a spirit of humility, then we are opened to His mercy and grace. When we focus on anything else, then God is not enough to satisfy us; instead, He is “too much” for us (Mk 6:3) and we turn elsewhere for satisfaction.

Today, as you observe the Lord’s day in all its splendor, “examine yourselves” (2 Cor 13:5). “What are you looking for?” (Jn 1:38) “Are the consolations of God not enough for you?” (Jb 15:11)

Prayer:  Father, You bless us with more than enough good things (Lv 25:21). Thank You, my Lord, my God, my All.

Promise:  “Therefore I am content with weakness, with mistreatment, with distress, with persecutions and difficulties for the sake of Christ; for when I am powerless, it is then that I am strong.” —2 Cor 12:10

Praise:  “But the One Whom God has raised up did not undergo corruption” (Acts 13:37). Father, we praise You through the risen Christ and in the unity of the Holy Spirit!

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

 Are you critical towards others, especially those who may be close to you? The most severe critics are often people very familiar to us, a member of our family, a relative, or neighbor or co-worker we rub shoulders with on a regular basis. Jesus faced a severe testing when he returned to his home town, not simply as the carpenter's son, but now as a rabbi with disciples. It would have been customary for Jesus to go to the synagogue each week during the Sabbath, and when his turn came, to read from the scriptures during the Sabbath service. His hometown folks listened with rapt attention on this occasion because they had heard about the miracles he had performed in other towns. What sign would he do in his hometown?

Look upon your neighbor with the eyes of Christ who comes to heal and restore us
Jesus startled his familiar audience with a seeming rebuke that no prophet or servant of God can receive honor among his own people. The people of Nazareth took offense at Jesus and refused to listen to what he had to say. They despised his preaching because he was a mere workman, a carpenter, and a layman who had no formal training by a scholar or teacher. They also despised him because of his undistinguished family background. How familiarity can breed contempt. Jesus could do no mighty works in their midst because they were closed-minded and unbelieving towards him. If people have come together to hate and to refuse to understand, then they will see no other point of view than their own and they will refuse to love and accept others. How do you treat those who seem disagreeable to you?

The word "gospel" literally means "good news". Isaiah had prophesied that the Messiah would come in the power of the Holy Spirit to bring freedom to the afflicted who suffered from physical, mental, or spiritual oppression (see Isaiah 61:1-2). Jesus came to set people free - not only from their physical, mental, and spiritual infirmities - but also from the worst affliction of all - the tyranny of slavery to sin, Satan, and the fear of losing one's life. God's power alone can save us from hopelessness, dejection, and emptiness of life. The Gospel of salvation is "good news" for everyone who will receive it. Do you know the joy and freedom of the Gospel?

Lord Jesus, you are the fulfillment of all our hopes and desires. Your Spirit brings grace, truth, freedom, and abundant life. Set my heart on fire with your love and truth.

Psalm 123:1-4

To you I lift up my eyes, O you who are enthroned in the heavens!
2 Behold, as the eyes of servants look to the hand of their master, as the eyes of a maid to the hand of her mistress, so our eyes look to the Lord our God, till he have mercy upon us.
3 Have mercy upon us, O Lord, have mercy upon us, for we have had more than enough of contempt.
4 Too long our soul has been sated with the scorn of those who are at ease, the contempt of the proud.

Daily Quote from the Early Church Fathers: Distinguishing God's power and our faith, by Origen of Alexandria (185-254 AD)

"And perhaps, as in the case of metallic substances there exists in some a natural attraction toward some other thing, as in the magnet for iron, and in naphtha for fire, so there is an attraction in such faith toward the divine power according to what Jesus said: 'If you have faith as a grain of mustard seed, you shall say unto this mountain, 'Move to another place,' and it shall be moved' (Matthew 17:20). Matthew and Mark wished to present the all-surpassing value of that divine power as a power that works even in those who do not believe. But they did not deny that grace works even more powerfully among those who have faith. So it seems to me that they accurately said not that the Lord did not do any mighty works because of their unbelief, but that he did not do many there (Mark 6:5). Mark does not flatly say that he could do no mighty work there at all, and stop at that point, but added, 'except that he laid his hands upon a few sick folk and healed them' (Mark 6:5). Thus the power in him overcame even their unbelief." (excerpt from COMMENTARY ON MATTHEW 10.19)

 

 

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