Readings for Thursday of the First Week in Ordinary Time[1][2]
Readings from the Jerusalem Bible
Readings and Commentary:[3]
Reading 1: Hebrews 3:7-14
Therefore, as 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
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Commentary on Heb 3:7-14
We hear in today’s selection from the letter to the Hebrews a paraphrase of Psalm 95:7-11. This part of the psalm is concerned with the loss of faith by the Hebrews as Moses led them out of Egypt. The focus is the main one of Hebrews, which is to implore the reader not to lose the exuberance for the faith or to weary of the journey.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Responsorial Psalm:[4] Psalm 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.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Commentary on Ps 95:6-7c, 8-9, 10-11
We hear the very familiar strains of the Invitatory Psalm from the Divine Office today. The psalm is a song of praise and thanks giving with a historical reminder of all that God has done for the people he loves. Today it supports the reading from Hebrews above as we are enjoined not to rebel against God because the journey is so difficult.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Gospel: Mark 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.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Commentary on Mk 1:40-45
Jesus cures the leper in the passage from the Gospel of St. Mark we are given today. This healing occurs after the leper demonstrates faith that Jesus can accomplish this feat even though there are only two times in Old Testament scripture when this was done (Numbers 12:10-15; 2 Kings 5:1-14). Jesus asks the leper not to tell anyone how this was accomplished but to show the Hebrew priest he was clean and be allowed to rejoin the community. He did not do this and the Lord is mobbed by those seeking God’s favor.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Homily:
The Gospel of St. Mark’s story of Jesus healing the leper provides us with a foundation for our belief in the forgiveness of sins Jesus brings to the contrite. The elements of that reconciliation are all there.
The leper comes to Jesus in faith. He even provides us with language we use prior to receiving the Eucharist “If you wish, you can make me clean.” We will declare that it is not though our merit that he offers this precious gift but at his word.
To that profound and humble offering of faith the Lord responds that it is his will that the leper be restored to health. What comes next is truly remarkable. Against the prohibition of the Law which forbids lepers to come within roughly ten feet of those not also infected, “…he (Jesus) stretched out his hand, touched the leper and said to him, “I do will it. Be made clean.””. It is not just a simple healing that takes place but it makes the leper, the outcast, the infirmed, whole – one again with his family and friends. He will be seen now as one beloved of God, favored by his faithfulness.
We see in this simple story, one of the less spectacular healings recorded in scripture, an example of what Christ brings us, what he offers in the most holy sacrifice of the altar. He reaches out and touches us and we, through his grace, are made clean, sanctified, made holy, a vessel of God’s love.
The two elements that make this possible are there for our taking. Christ is always there, anxious to offer his love and forgiveness. It was for this reason he came, that we all might see the incredible mercy of God. All that is missing is faith and it is we who must bring that truth to the feast he provides.
Today as we once more recall Christ’s encounter with the leper, an unworthy outcast who represents all of us, we once more pray that God will heal us from all sin and touch us with his grace.
Pax
Readings from the Jerusalem Bible
Readings and Commentary:[3]
Reading 1: Hebrews 3:7-14
Therefore, as 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
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Commentary on Heb 3:7-14
We hear in today’s selection from the letter to the Hebrews a paraphrase of Psalm 95:7-11. This part of the psalm is concerned with the loss of faith by the Hebrews as Moses led them out of Egypt. The focus is the main one of Hebrews, which is to implore the reader not to lose the exuberance for the faith or to weary of the journey.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Responsorial Psalm:[4] Psalm 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.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Commentary on Ps 95:6-7c, 8-9, 10-11
We hear the very familiar strains of the Invitatory Psalm from the Divine Office today. The psalm is a song of praise and thanks giving with a historical reminder of all that God has done for the people he loves. Today it supports the reading from Hebrews above as we are enjoined not to rebel against God because the journey is so difficult.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Gospel: Mark 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.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Commentary on Mk 1:40-45
Jesus cures the leper in the passage from the Gospel of St. Mark we are given today. This healing occurs after the leper demonstrates faith that Jesus can accomplish this feat even though there are only two times in Old Testament scripture when this was done (Numbers 12:10-15; 2 Kings 5:1-14). Jesus asks the leper not to tell anyone how this was accomplished but to show the Hebrew priest he was clean and be allowed to rejoin the community. He did not do this and the Lord is mobbed by those seeking God’s favor.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Homily:
The Gospel of St. Mark’s story of Jesus healing the leper provides us with a foundation for our belief in the forgiveness of sins Jesus brings to the contrite. The elements of that reconciliation are all there.
The leper comes to Jesus in faith. He even provides us with language we use prior to receiving the Eucharist “If you wish, you can make me clean.” We will declare that it is not though our merit that he offers this precious gift but at his word.
To that profound and humble offering of faith the Lord responds that it is his will that the leper be restored to health. What comes next is truly remarkable. Against the prohibition of the Law which forbids lepers to come within roughly ten feet of those not also infected, “…he (Jesus) stretched out his hand, touched the leper and said to him, “I do will it. Be made clean.””. It is not just a simple healing that takes place but it makes the leper, the outcast, the infirmed, whole – one again with his family and friends. He will be seen now as one beloved of God, favored by his faithfulness.
We see in this simple story, one of the less spectacular healings recorded in scripture, an example of what Christ brings us, what he offers in the most holy sacrifice of the altar. He reaches out and touches us and we, through his grace, are made clean, sanctified, made holy, a vessel of God’s love.
The two elements that make this possible are there for our taking. Christ is always there, anxious to offer his love and forgiveness. It was for this reason he came, that we all might see the incredible mercy of God. All that is missing is faith and it is we who must bring that truth to the feast he provides.
Today as we once more recall Christ’s encounter with the leper, an unworthy outcast who represents all of us, we once more pray that God will heal us from all sin and touch us with his grace.
Pax
Please Pray for Jennifer
[1] ALTRE
[2] The pictured today is “The Leper” by Alexandre Bida, c. 1880
[3] Text of Readings is taken from the New American Bible, Copyright © Libreria Editrice Vaticana
[4] Excerpts from the English translation of The Roman Missal © 1973, International Committee on English in the Liturgy, Inc. All rights reserved
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