Memorial of Saint Agatha, virgin and martyr
Biographical Information about St. Agatha
Readings for Monday of the 5th Week In Ordinary Time
Commentary:
Reading 1 Gn 1:1-19
The selection we are given today is the beginning of Genesis, the first book in the Bible. Here we see the first four days of the first of two creation accounts. This, the Priestly account, shows how God creates order out of chaos.
Responsorial Psalm Ps 104:1-2a, 5-6, 10 and 12, 24 and 35c
R. May the Lord be glad in his works.
This section of Psalm 104 is praising God for the creation of all things which supports Genesis’ creation account above. It reminds us not to take that first gift for granted but to constantly thank God for wonders of His works.
Gospel Mk 6:53-56
There is another gap in the Gospel readings from St. Mark that we missed as we celebrated the 5th Sunday in Ordinary Time. On Saturday you will remember, the disciples returned after their first sending and after they had buried John the Baptist and as Jesus took them to a deserted place so they could rest, a large crowd had followed them.
Jesus felt sorry for them and taught them many things. – That is were we left the story on Saturday. The next section told how he had then fed that great throng with a few loaves and fishes. Today, we take up the story immediately following that miraculous event. Jesus continues his journey and curing many people who come to him. His fame spreads.
Reflection:
Today scripture gives us a pause from the very active message of last week of “call and response”, to consider the creation event. What an amazing controversy this simple account has caused in the scientific age. The Church, in her great wisdom, has given us tools with which to resolve our position in this debate by defining the nature of Holy Scripture in Dei Verbum, a document from the Vatican II Counsel, the Dogmatic Constitution on Divine Revelation.
Supported by numerous citations from scripture itself, the Church teaches us that God revealed himself to us in the Word and that Holy Scripture was the work of human hands, inspired by God. This differs significantly from the definition used by many of our Christian brothers and sisters; especially of the Baptist and Evangelical sects who believe that God’s word (usually as codified in the English translation of the King James Version of the Bible) is somehow the work of God himself. They believe that the Lord somehow dictated the very words used and that it (the Bible) is to be interpreted literally using even the modern understanding of societal context.
The Church on the other hand sees, for instance, the creation account given today, not as a record of four, twenty four hour periods but rather as the encounter by the first believers in God with the understanding of how their earth and ours came into being. God created the universe and all that is in it, we believe this. Did He do it in a calendar week using a division of time that did not even exist at the time the authors crafted the language we see today? That we do not accept. Rather we believe the creative event took place in God’s time, which is beyond our understanding and that of the ancient Hebrews who handed this account down for 2,000 years before ever writing it on parchment.
Biographical Information about St. Agatha
Readings for Monday of the 5th Week In Ordinary Time
Commentary:
Reading 1 Gn 1:1-19
The selection we are given today is the beginning of Genesis, the first book in the Bible. Here we see the first four days of the first of two creation accounts. This, the Priestly account, shows how God creates order out of chaos.
Responsorial Psalm Ps 104:1-2a, 5-6, 10 and 12, 24 and 35c
R. May the Lord be glad in his works.
This section of Psalm 104 is praising God for the creation of all things which supports Genesis’ creation account above. It reminds us not to take that first gift for granted but to constantly thank God for wonders of His works.
Gospel Mk 6:53-56
There is another gap in the Gospel readings from St. Mark that we missed as we celebrated the 5th Sunday in Ordinary Time. On Saturday you will remember, the disciples returned after their first sending and after they had buried John the Baptist and as Jesus took them to a deserted place so they could rest, a large crowd had followed them.
Jesus felt sorry for them and taught them many things. – That is were we left the story on Saturday. The next section told how he had then fed that great throng with a few loaves and fishes. Today, we take up the story immediately following that miraculous event. Jesus continues his journey and curing many people who come to him. His fame spreads.
Reflection:
Today scripture gives us a pause from the very active message of last week of “call and response”, to consider the creation event. What an amazing controversy this simple account has caused in the scientific age. The Church, in her great wisdom, has given us tools with which to resolve our position in this debate by defining the nature of Holy Scripture in Dei Verbum, a document from the Vatican II Counsel, the Dogmatic Constitution on Divine Revelation.
Supported by numerous citations from scripture itself, the Church teaches us that God revealed himself to us in the Word and that Holy Scripture was the work of human hands, inspired by God. This differs significantly from the definition used by many of our Christian brothers and sisters; especially of the Baptist and Evangelical sects who believe that God’s word (usually as codified in the English translation of the King James Version of the Bible) is somehow the work of God himself. They believe that the Lord somehow dictated the very words used and that it (the Bible) is to be interpreted literally using even the modern understanding of societal context.
The Church on the other hand sees, for instance, the creation account given today, not as a record of four, twenty four hour periods but rather as the encounter by the first believers in God with the understanding of how their earth and ours came into being. God created the universe and all that is in it, we believe this. Did He do it in a calendar week using a division of time that did not even exist at the time the authors crafted the language we see today? That we do not accept. Rather we believe the creative event took place in God’s time, which is beyond our understanding and that of the ancient Hebrews who handed this account down for 2,000 years before ever writing it on parchment.
Today we give thanks to the Church for helping us place God’s revelation into context. We give thanks that, unlike our Evangelical brothers and sisters, we have not placed the mind of God in a box bounded by words. Look around today and give thanks to a creator who gives us life and a natural world to enjoy as we journey to Him in His Heavenly Kingdom.
Pax
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