2023년 3월 16일 사순 제3주간 목요일
오늘의 복음 : http://info.catholic.or.kr/missa/default.asp
<이 민족은 주 그들의 하느님의 말씀을 듣지 않은 민족이다.>
제1독서
예레미야서. 7,23-28
주님께서 이렇게 말씀하신다.
“나는 내 백성에게 23 이런 명령을 내렸다.
‘내 말을 들어라. 나는 너희 하느님이 되고 너희는 내 백성이 될 것이다.
내가 너희에게 명령하는 길만 온전히 걸어라. 그러면 너희가 잘될 것이다.’
24 그러나 그들은 순종하지도 귀를 기울이지도 않고,
제멋대로 사악한 마음을 따라 고집스럽게 걸었다.
그들은 앞이 아니라 뒤를 향하였다.
25 너희 조상들이 이집트 땅에서 나온 날부터 오늘에 이르기까지
나는 내 모든 종들, 곧 예언자들을 날마다 끊임없이 그들에게 보냈다.
26 그런데도 그들은 나에게 순종하거나 귀를 기울이지 않고,
오히려 목을 뻣뻣이 세우고 자기네 조상들보다 더 고약하게 굴었다.
27 네가 그들에게 이 모든 말씀을 전하더라도 그들은 네 말을 듣지 않을 것이고,
그들을 부르더라도 응답하지 않을 것이다.
28 그러므로 너는 그들에게 이렇게 말하여라.
‘이 민족은 주 그들의 하느님의 말씀을 듣지 않고
훈계를 받아들이지 않은 민족이다.
그들의 입술에서 진실이 사라지고 끊겼다.’”
복음
<내 편에 서지 않는 자는 나를 반대하는 자다.>
루카. 11,14-23
그때에 14 예수님께서 벙어리 마귀를 쫓아내셨는데,
마귀가 나가자 말을 못하는 이가 말을 하게 되었다.
그러자 군중이 놀라워하였다.
15 그러나 그들 가운데 몇 사람은,
“저자는 마귀 우두머리 베엘제불의 힘을 빌려
마귀들을 쫓아낸다.” 하고 말하였다.
16 다른 사람들은 예수님을 시험하느라고,
하늘에서 내려오는 표징을 그분께 요구하기도 하였다.
17 예수님께서는 그들의 생각을 아시고 이렇게 말씀하셨다.
“어느 나라든지 서로 갈라서면 망하고 집들도 무너진다.
18 사탄도 서로 갈라서면 그의 나라가 어떻게 버티어 내겠느냐?
그런데도 너희는 내가 베엘제불의 힘을 빌려 마귀들을 쫓아낸다고 말한다.
19 내가 만일 베엘제불의 힘을 빌려 마귀들을 쫓아낸다면,
너희의 아들들은 누구의 힘을 빌려 마귀들을 쫓아낸다는 말이냐?
그러니 바로 그들이 너희의 재판관이 될 것이다.
20 그러나 내가 하느님의 손가락으로 마귀들을 쫓아내는 것이면,
하느님의 나라가 이미 너희에게 와 있는 것이다.
21 힘센 자가 완전히 무장하고 자기 저택을 지키면
그의 재산은 안전하다.
22 그러나 더 힘센 자가 덤벼들어 그를 이기면,
그자는 그가 의지하던 무장을 빼앗고
저희끼리 전리품을 나눈다.
23 내 편에 서지 않는 자는 나를 반대하는 자고,
나와 함께 모아들이지 않는 자는 흩어 버리는 자다.”
March 16, 2023
Thursday of the Third Week of Lent
Daily Mass : http://www.catholictv.com/shows/daily-mass
: https://www.youtube.com/c/DailyTVMass
Bible : http://www.usccb.org/bible/
Reading 1
Thus says the LORD:
This is what I commanded my people:
Listen to my voice;
then I will be your God and you shall be my people.
Walk in all the ways that I command you,
so that you may prosper.
But they obeyed not, nor did they pay heed.
They walked in the hardness of their evil hearts
and turned their backs, not their faces, to me.
From the day that your fathers left the land of Egypt even to this day,
I have sent you untiringly all my servants the prophets.
Yet they have not obeyed me nor paid heed;
they have stiffened their necks and done worse than their fathers.
When you speak all these words to them,
they will not listen to you either;
when you call to them, they will not answer you.
Say to them:
This is the nation that does not listen
to the voice of the LORD, its God,
or take correction.
Faithfulness has disappeared;
the word itself is banished from their speech.
Responsorial Psalm
R. (8) If today you hear his voice, harden not your hearts.
Come, let us sing joyfully to the LORD;
let us acclaim the Rock of our salvation.
Let us come into his presence with thanksgiving;
let us joyfully sing psalms to him.
R. 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.
Gospel
Jesus was driving out a demon that was mute,
and when the demon had gone out,
the mute man spoke and the crowds were amazed.
Some of them said, “By the power of Beelzebul, the prince of demons,
he drives out demons.”
Others, to test him, asked him for a sign from heaven.
But he knew their thoughts and said to them,
“Every kingdom divided against itself will be laid waste
and house will fall against house.
And if Satan is divided against himself,
how will his kingdom stand?
For you say that it is by Beelzebul that I drive out demons.
If I, then, drive out demons by Beelzebul,
by whom do your own people drive them out?
Therefore they will be your judges.
But if it is by the finger of God that I drive out demons,
then the Kingdom of God has come upon you.
When a strong man fully armed guards his palace,
his possessions are safe.
But when one stronger than he attacks and overcomes him,
he takes away the armor on which he relied
and distributes the spoils.
Whoever is not with me is against me,
and whoever does not gather with me scatters.”
http://onlineministries.creighton.edu/CollaborativeMinistry/daily.html
Today’s first reading from the Book of Jeremiah considers the response of the chosen people to calls for change. Although God has sent the prophets, the people continue to drift away. Today I can easily place myself in the role of the people that God and the prophets are addressing. It was soon struck by how much the message in this passage has a contemporary analogy in my life. I think of how I interact with the health professionals that I see. I am good at keeping appointments, but not at keeping the message. I think of how many times that I have been encouraged to use my CPAP machine and to change my patterns of diet and exercise. I know that the change needs to take place, but I can always find a reason why it is inconvenient for the healthy behaviors to start at this particular moment. I can find similar analogies to my spiritual development.
I recognized Psalm 95 as part of the Morning Prayer from the Liturgy of the Hours. Previously I had tended to think of this as a call to praise, but in today’s context I perceive it as a call to listen.
The Gospel has Jesus healing a man unable to speak by driving out a demon. Some of the onlookers question by what authority Jesus does this. I find myself thinking how often I want to attribute unfortunate events that are out of my control to something beyond mere chance. I also notice how often thoughts of an evil force come to mind in this context. I am reminded how my imagination ran wild fifty years ago when I read the book “The Exorcist”. My sense is that I am not the only one wired to respond in this way as I recall the spiritual mayhem that movie adaption of this book brought to a good part of the general public. (I should add that for me the movie was sometimes tame in comparison with my own personal mental picture of the book’s events.) Returning to the text of today’s Gospel, I see an interesting lesson in the discernment of spirits. A conclusion that seemed so obvious to me required Jesus’ explanation for a number of members in the crowd.
I come back to the thought of hardened hearts for my prayer today.
Dear Lord,
I realize how poorly I listen.
I fall short in my response to guidance.
Perhaps my Lenten resolve needs a better direction.
Strengthen my will to listen and to respond appropriately to what I hear.
Help me to sustain a new attentiveness in my discernments.
Allow this to be a season in which I make progress in mind, body, and spirit.
http://www.presentationministries.com/obob/obob.asp
“O COME, ALL YE FAITHFUL”
“Faithfulness has disappeared; the word itself is banished from their speech.” —Jeremiah 7:28
Our heavenly Father is the Faithful One. Jesus Christ is “the faithful Witness” (Rv 1:5), “the Faithful and True” (Rv 19:11). The Holy Spirit is the Spirit of truth, that is, of faithfulness (see Jn 16:13). The triune God is perfectly faithful (see 1 Thes 5:24). Even “if we are unfaithful He will still remain faithful, for He cannot deny Himself” (2 Tm 2:13). It is God’s nature to be faithful.
God calls us to be holy, to be like Him. That means that we must be faithful. Have you been faithful to your baptismal promises? This is the fundamental responsibility to which we must be faithful. Have you been faithful to your vocations as married, lay single, clergy, religious, parent, child, worker in the world, or church worker? Have you been faithful to the Church, including to the Pope, bishops, pastors, and brothers and sisters in Christ? Have you been faithful in keeping your word and your promises to those people the Lord has given you to love?
If you have been faithful, give God the glory, for it is only by His grace that you have been faithful. If you have not been faithful, repent, go to Confession, receive God’s mercy, and become faithful. On Judgment Day, the Lord wants to say to each of us: “Well done, good and faithful servant” (Mt 25:21, 23, RSV-CE).
Prayer: Father, this Lent make me faithful in life, till death.
Promise: “He who is not with Me is against Me, and he who does not gather with Me scatters.” —Lk 11:23
Praise: Fr. Joseph, a Ugandan priest serving as a missionary to the Sudan, has baptized 15,000 Sudanese people into the Catholic Church in the last six years.
http://dailyscripture.servantsoftheword.org/readings/
What is the best protection which brings lasting security to our lives? Scripture tells us that true peace and security come to those who trust in God and obey his word. "Obey my voice and walk in all the way that I command you, that it may be well with you" (Jeremiah 7:23). The struggle between choosing to do good or evil, yielding to my will or God's will, God's way or my way, cannot be won by human strength or will-power alone. Our enemy, the devil, conspires with the "world" (whatever is opposed to God and his truth and righteousness) and our "flesh" (whatever inclines us to yield to hurtful desires and wrongdoing), to draw us away from the peace, joy, and security which God provides for those who put their trust in him.
Peter the Apostles tells us, Our adversary, the devil prowls the earth seeking the ruin of souls (1 Peter 5:8-9). The devil is opposed to God and he seeks to draw us away from God's plan and will for our lives. God offers us grace (his merciful help and strength) and protection (from Satan's lies and deception) if we are willing to obey his word and resist the devil's lies and temptations. Because you have made the Lord your refuge, the Most High your habitation, no evil shall befall you, no scourge come near your tent. For he will give his angels charge of you to guard you in all your ways (Psalm 91:9-11). The Lord offers us the peace and security of his kingdom which lasts forever and which no other power can overcome.
God's kingdom brings healing and freedom from the destructive forces of sin and Satan
Jesus' numerous exorcisms brought freedom to many who were troubled and oppressed by the work of evil spirits. Jesus himself encountered personal opposition and battled with Satan when he was put to the test in the wilderness just before his public ministry (Luke 4:1-13). He overcame the evil one through his obedience to the will of his Father. Some of the Jewish leaders reacted vehemently to Jesus' healings and exorcisms and they opposed him with malicious slander. How could he get the power and authority to release individuals from Satan's power? They assumed that he had to be in league with Satan. They attributed his power to Satan rather than to God.
Jesus answers their charge with two arguments. There were many exorcists among the Jews in Jesus' time. So Jesus retorted by saying that they also incriminate their own kin who cast out demons. If they condemn Jesus they also condemn themselves. In his second argument he asserts that no kingdom divided against itself can survive for long? We have witnessed enough civil wars in our own time to prove the destructive force at work here for the annihilation of whole peoples and their land. If Satan lends his power against his own forces then he is finished. How can a strong person be defeated except by someone who is stronger? Jesus asserted his power and authority to cast out demons as a clear demonstration of the reign of God.
Jesus' reference to the finger of God points back to Moses' confrontation with Pharoah and his magicians who represented Satan and the kingdom of darkness (see Exodus 8:19). Jesus claims to be carrying on the tradition of Moses whose miracles freed the Israelites from bondage by the finger of God. God's power is clearly at work in the exorcisms which Jesus performed and they give evidence that God's kingdom has come.
Is Jesus the Master of your life?
Jesus makes it clear that there are no neutral parties. We are either for Jesus or against him, for the kingdom of God or against it. There are two kingdoms in opposition to one another - the kingdom of God and the kingdom of darkness under the rule of Satan. If we disobey God's word, we open to door to the power of sin and Satan in our lives. If you want to live in freedom from sin and Satan, then your "house" - your life and possessions (all that you rely upon for livelihood, peace, and security) - must be occupied by Jesus where he is enthroned as Lord and Savior. Is the Lord Jesus the Master of your home, heart, mind, and will?
O Lord, our God, grant us, we beseech you, patience in troubles, humility in comforts, constancy in temptations, and victory over all our spiritual foes. Grant us sorrow for our sins, thankfulness for your benefits, fear of your judgment, love of your mercies, and mindfulness of your presence; now and for ever. (Prayer by John Cosin)
Psalm 95:1-2,6-9
1 O come, let us sing to the LORD; let us make a joyful noise to the rock of our salvation!
2 Let us come into his presence with thanksgiving; let us make a joyful noise to him with songs of praise!
6 O come, let us worship and bow down, let us kneel before the LORD, our Maker!
7 For he is our God, and we are the people of his pasture, and the sheep of his hand. O that today you would hearken to his voice!
8 Harden not your hearts, as at Meribah, as on the day at Massah in the wilderness,
9 when your fathers tested me, and put me to the proof, though they had seen my work.
Daily Quote from the Early Church Fathers: God's help for our complete conversion, by Augustine of Hippo, 354-430 A.D.
"When we transform our old life and give our spirit a new image, we find it very hard and tiring to turn back from the darkness of earthly passions to the serene calm of the divine light. We must ask God to help us that a complete conversion may be brought about in us." (excerpt from Commentary on Psalm 6,5)
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