RE: 02.02.12~Readings for Sunday, Feb 5th-2012

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FEBRUARY 5, 2012

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Fifth Sunday in Ordinary Time
Lectionary: 74
READING 1 JB 7:1-4, 6-7
Job spoke, saying:
Is not man's life on earth a drudgery?
Are not his days those of hirelings?
He is a slave who longs for the shade,
a hireling who waits for his wages.
So I have been assigned months of misery,
and troubled nights have been allotted to me.
If in bed I say, "When shall I arise?"
then the night drags on;
I am filled with restlessness until the dawn.
My days are swifter than a weaver's shuttle;
they come to an end without hope.
Remember that my life is like the wind;
I shall not see happiness again.
RESPONSORIAL PSALM PS 147:1-2, 3-4, 5-6
R. (cf. 3a) Praise the Lord, who heals the brokenhearted.
or:
R. Alleluia.
Praise the LORD, for he is good;
sing praise to our God, for he is gracious;
it is fitting to praise him.
The LORD rebuilds Jerusalem;
the dispersed of Israel he gathers.
R. Praise the Lord, who heals the brokenhearted.
or:
R. Alleluia.
He heals the brokenhearted
and binds up their wounds.
He tells the number of the stars;
he calls each by name.
R. Praise the Lord, who heals the brokenhearted.
or:
R. Alleluia.
Great is our Lord and mighty in power;
to his wisdom there is no limit.
The LORD sustains the lowly;
the wicked he casts to the ground.
R. Praise the Lord, who heals the brokenhearted.
or:
R. Alleluia.
READING 2 1 COR 9:16-19, 22-23
Brothers and sisters:
If I preach the gospel, this is no reason for me to boast,
for an obligation has been imposed on me,
and woe to me if I do not preach it!
If I do so willingly, I have a recompense,
but if unwillingly, then I have been entrusted with a stewardship.
What then is my recompense?
That, when I preach,
I offer the gospel free of charge
so as not to make full use of my right in the gospel.

Although I am free in regard to all,
I have made myself a slave to all
so as to win over as many as possible.
To the weak I became weak, to win over the weak.
I have become all things to all, to save at least some.
All this I do for the sake of the gospel,
so that I too may have a share in it.
GOSPEL MK 1:29-39
On leaving the synagogue
Jesus entered the house of Simon and Andrew with James and John.
Simon's mother-in-law lay sick with a fever.
They immediately told him about her.
He approached, grasped her hand, and helped her up.
Then the fever left her and she waited on them.

When it was evening, after sunset,
they brought to him all who were ill or possessed by demons.
The whole town was gathered at the door.
He cured many who were sick with various diseases,
and he drove out many demons,
not permitting them to speak because they knew him.

Rising very early before dawn, he left
and went off to a deserted place, where he prayed.
Simon and those who were with him pursued him
and on finding him said, "Everyone is looking for you."
He told them, "Let us go on to the nearby villages
that I may preach there also.
For this purpose have I come."
So he went into their synagogues,
preaching and driving out demons throughout the whole of Galilee.
Lectionary for Mass for Use in the Dioceses of the United States, second typical edition, Copyright © 2001, 1998, 1997, 1986, 1970 Confraternity of Christian Doctrine; Psalm refrain © 1968, 1981, 1997, International Committee on English in the Liturgy, Inc. All rights reserved. Neither this work nor any part of it may be reproduced, distributed, performed or displayed in any medium, including electronic or digital, without permission in writing from the copyright owner.

SUNDAY READINGS - 5th Sunday in Ordinary Time
FIRST READING: Job 7:1-4; 6-7. Job said: Has not man a hard service upon earth, and are not his days like the days of a hireling? Like a slave who longs for the shadow, and like a hireling who looks for his wages, so I am allotted months of emptiness, and nights of misery are apportioned to me. When I lie down I say, "When shall I arise?" But the night is long, and I am full of tossing till the dawn. My days are swifter than a weaver's shuttle, and come to their end without hope. Remember that my life is a breath; my eyes will never again see good.
EXPLANATION: The book of Job is a didactic book---a story with a moral. It is a book with a lesson to teach. It tells the story of a good-living, upright man, who was blessed by God with the possessions of this world as well as a large family. But ill-fortune struck him and he not only lost his possessions and family but was himself struck with bodily sores. The author of the story, a post-exilic Israelite, gives us a picturesque explanation of these misfortunes. Satan, the enemy of man and God, tells God that Job's fidelity and uprightness will last only as long as the temporal blessings he has remain. And he asks God to put Job to the test. God does so but Job remains faithful and after a long period of mental and bodily suffering is finally given back his family, and twice the possessions he had lost. The lesson the author intended to teach was that the belief prevalent among the Jews for centuries that God rewarded the good in this life and punished the wicked was not well-founded. The author shows that Job was not a sinner and yet he suffered much in this life: this was proof that this commonly held belief was wrong. The author did not solve the problem, because in common with his contemporaries, he had only very vague ideas about the future life. With the example of Christ's sufferings and cruel death before us, we can now see the value of suffering in this life, and the full meaning of the didactic story of Job.
a hard...earth: Three friends of Job came to visit him when ill-fortune hit him. Being convinced of the traditional teaching that it was sinners only who suffered, each one of the three tried to get Job to admit that he was a great sinner but Job answered each of his accusers by asserting his innocence. In today's lesson he is answering the first speaker and having declared his innocence he admits the severity of the trials by which he is afflicted. He compares his life to the three most wretched states of life then known---those of the conscript, the hireling and the slave. He says a man's life on earth (his own especially) is like the life of a conscript ("pressed service" in the Jerusalem Bible).
days...hireling: He has no freedom but must be at the beck and call of his master.
slave...shadow: Working under the scorching sun the poor slave would love to get some shady place wherein to rest.
hireling...wages: He has no interest in his work and no comfort in it, and all he gets out of life is his wages and they were not very much.
emptiness...misery: Apart from the grief over the loss of his family, Job has been for months suffering from bodily sores and ill-health---his days are empty of value to himself or to anybody and his tortured mind finds no rest even at night---nothing but misery.
When I...down: Knowing his night will be sleepless he keeps hoping that dawn will come soon, but the night drags on while he tosses and turns in pain.
my days...shuttle: But when day comes it brings no relief, it passes too quickly. It has the speed of a weaver's shuttle.
my life...breath: His life is but a brief, transitory moment. It is like the breath one breathes out, it is gone in an instant.
eyes...good: His eyes would soon close in death and that was the final end for him. Remember Job, or the author, had no knowledge of a future life so for him everything ended in death.
APPLICATION: While the book of Job points out that earthly sufferings are not always a punishment for previous sins committed by the sufferer---Job was an innocent man---it does not solve the problem of human pain. The author could not solve this age-old problem because his world-view was restricted to life on this earth. It was only when the full revelation of man's purpose in life and God's loving plans for him, were made known through Christ that the full answer to this question was given. When life on this earth was thought to be the sum total of a man's existence it seemed hard and cruel that his few short years should be marred and saddened by bodily and/or mental ailments. But with our new knowledge and certainty that this life is only a preparation, an apprenticeship, for the eternal life that awaits us after death, we are able to see our earthly sufferings in their proper perspective. They may be punishment for past sins---God's loving way of giving us an opportunity of making atonement for our offenses---or these sufferings may be laid on our shoulders to atone for fellowmen who are incapable of carrying their own saving cross.
For whichever reason these trials are sent us, we Christians should, with the example of Christ before us, be able to accept them with good will and bear them patiently because they come to us from God. But the objection can be raised: it is not God but sinful men, wicked neighbors or even wicked members of our own family who are the cause of my ill-health, my mental and bodily sufferings. Granted that this is often true and that many, if not most of the pains and hardships people have to suffer, are caused by wicked fellowman, yet all of this is happening with God's knowledge. He could prevent it but he will not because out of evil he can produce good. The sufferings of the innocent bring down God's grace not only on themselves but on the very wicked who caused their sufferings.
God wants all his adopted children in heaven. His all-wise way of bringing this to pass may often seem to our limited intellects to be almost unjust to the innocent while the guilty ones seem to be favored. But it is not so. God's innocent children will be rewarded where the reward will be everlasting, and when they reach that reward they will have an added source of joy in the knowledge that it was their patient endurance of suffering brought on them by wicked men, which earned for their one-time oppressors a place in the eternal kingdom. In heaven there will be no narrow-mindedness, no sense of resentment or desire for revenge. Remember the words of Job: "man has a hard service upon earth . . . he is like a hireling and a slave." Most of us can see this fulfilled in our own lives. However, our conscription, our military service or slavery, is of relatively short duration. If we put up patiently with our tribulations (having done all that is humanly and lawfully possible to ameliorate our condition), we will soon see that what looked like the heavy hand of an enemy was instead the caressing hand of the eternal Father, who loved us and so sent us crosses which he would turn into eternal crowns.
Knowing, then, that this life is only an apprenticeship through which we can earn our eternal life of happiness, we should all be able to face "the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune" which come our way. We should, in fact, be able to welcome them for they are reminders kindly sent us by God, lest we forget our real purpose in life. What is more: they are means given us to make us apostles in our own homes. Through patiently-borne sufferings, we can bring God's grace down on fellowman who have no time or no thought of asking for it.
Christ suffered for us and died the excruciating death of the cross, so that we might have eternal life. He asks us to take up our cross daily and follow him. That daily cross of ours can never be as heavy as his, for he was the innocent God-man. If, however, we carry our cross patiently, it will be turned into our crown of glory when we meet Christ at the moment of our death.
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SECOND READING: 1 Corinthians 9:16-19; 22-23. If I preach the gospel, that gives me no ground for boasting. For necessity is laid upon me. Woe to me if I do not preach the gospel! For if I do this of my own will, I have a reward; but if not of my own will, I am entrusted with a commission. What then is my reward? Just this: that in my preaching I may make the gospel free of charge, not making full use of my right in the gospel.
For though I am free from all men, I have made myself a slave to all, that I might win the more. To the weak I became weak, that I might win the weak. I have become all things to all men, that I might by all means save some. I do it all for the sake of the gospel, that I may share in its blessings.
EXPLANATION: In this section of his letter St. Paul is encouraging his Corinthian converts to be always ready to forgo their own rights when the edification or spiritual welfare of a neighbor is at stake. To emphasize this teaching, he tells them how he has given up rights and privileges, which he certainly could claim, in order to give himself fully and entirely to the spreading of the gospel among them, and to be seen to be free from any personal interest or gain.
preach...boasting: The fact that Paul is an Apostle, a preacher of the gospel, is in no way due to himself. He did not choose the office, Christ imposed it on him (see Acts 9: 15), so he cannot boast of it.
woe...gospel: This apostleship is his vocation in life, the task Christ gave him to do. Should he fail in it, his future life would be in jeopardy.
not of my own will...commission: He compares himself to the slave who is given a position of authority in the household "a commission." If he fulfills the position well and faithfully, he will get no reward because he is only a slave, but if he fails, he is punished: "woe to him."
gospel...charge: This is something Paul is doing of his own will and he can expect a reward for it. He did not burden the converts with his upkeep, but worked with his hands to earn his bread (see Acts 18: 3; 1 Cor. 9: 1-15), even though he had a right to material support from them.
a slave to all: Though a free-man and a Roman citizen he made himself a slave amongst them, getting no wages, no material reward for his work of evangelizing them. This was so that nobody, friend or foe, could charge him with working for his own benefit. He acted thus in order to win all the more to Christ.
all...men: St. Paul tried (and succeeded admirably) to put himself on an equal footing with all those with whom he came into contact. With the simple he was simple, with the learned he showed his learning, with the weak he spoke of his own weaknesses, with those who boasted of heavenly gifts he spoke of the great gifts he had himself received, hence, the success, under God, of his missionary activity.
save some: Notwithstanding all his efforts, he sadly admits that not all of those who heard him and knew him would follow the gospel, but the fault lay in them, not in him.
may share...blessings: However, he is still going to give his all in order to spread the "goodness" of Christ, so that as many as possible may share with him in its eternal blessings.
APPLICATION: St. Paul is the single Apostle about whom we know most. From the accounts of him given in the Acts, and from his own letters to the various churches, we have not only the principal events of his life but clear glimpses into his character. He was never a man of half- measures but put his whole heart and mind into whatever cause he espoused. As a young Pharisee---a student of the Mosaic law in Jerusalem---he exceeded in zeal even his teachers and elders. To the Pharisees Christ was a false Messiah. He was not what they expected and what was worse, he was a blasphemer for he claimed to be God, so they had him condemned to death. But his followers began to proclaim that he had risen from the dead and was not only Messiah but the Son of God. For this they were persecuted and imprisoned---this heretical sect had to be wiped out.
In this persecution of the infant Church Saul of Tarsus took a leading part. But Christ intervened on behalf of his Church. On his way to Damascus, with authority to arrest any believers in Christ that he found there, and bring them prisoner to Jerusalem, he was converted. The vision of the risen Christ gave him a new outlook on life, the persecutor was turned into an Apostle of the new faith. Baptized in Damascus, he spent some time in solitary meditation in the desert and later in his native Tarsus. Then he began his mission to the Gentiles, the mission given him by Jesus (Acts 9: 15). From Antioch in Syria he traveled through Cyprus (where he changed the name Saul into Paul), Asia Minor, Greece and as far as Rome. He spent the last twenty-four years of his life bringing the message of Christ to the Gentiles. In doing so he suffered hard ship after hardship. Apart from fatiguing journeys during which he frequently suffered from hunger and thirst, he was often beaten up by mobs. Five times he was scourged by the opposing Jews. He was stoned, ship-wrecked and imprisoned at least three times (see 2 Cor. 11 :23-29).
The vision of Christ which Paul had on the road to Damascus remained his guiding-light all through these years. He gladly and completely became the slave of Christ and put every ounce of energy he possessed into serving his master. Because his fellowman were brothers of Christ, Paul made himself their slave also. For him there was neither Jew nor Gentile, Greek nor Barbarian, slave nor freeman---all were brothers of Christ, adopted sons of God, and his all-burning desire was to help them all reach the eternal inheritance that God, through Christ, had in store for them.
We can hardly hope to emulate the true brotherly-love, the total dedication, the complete self-giving of Paul, but we must all try to follow him if only from afar. We cannot and need not take on distant missionary journeys, we cannot and need not give up all our earthly cares and responsibilities, but we all can and must take an active interest in the temporal and spiritual welfare of our fellowman. Some of this obligation, which is on every true Christian, we can fulfill by helping missionary societies, but nearer home, in our own very neighborhood, there are works of charity which each one of us can carry out. There are neighbors, fellow-sons and daughters of God who are in dire need of the ordinary necessities of life---we can spare a little from our own resources to help them out. There are many heirs to heaven who, alas, are leading lives which will not bring them to their everlasting home. A word of advice, an encouraging example, a few devout prayers, can still work miracles. Let us try to imitate St. Paul, if only from afar. Every least effort, every smallest sacrifice for Christ and our fellowman, will have its reward when our day of reckoning comes.
We can all be apostles in our own limited surroundings; we must all be apostles if we hope to reign one day soon with Christ in heaven.
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GOSPEL: Mark 1: 29-39. Jesus left the synagogue, and entered the house of Simon and Andrew, with James and John. Now Simon's mother-in-law lay sick with a fever, and immediately they told him of her. And he came and took her by the hand and lifted her up, and the fever left her; and she served them.
That evening, at sundown, they brought to him all who were sick or possessed with demons. And the whole city was gathered together about the door. And he healed many who were sick with various diseases, and cast out many demons; and he would not permit the demons to speak, because they knew him.
And in the morning, a great while before day, he rose and went out to a lonely, place, and there he prayed. And Simon and those who were with him followed him, and they found him and said to him, "Every one is searching for you." And he said to them, "Let us go on to the next towns, that I may preach there also; for that is why I came out." And he went throughout all Galilee, preaching in their synagogues and casting out demons.
EXPLANATION: St. Mark began (last Sunday's reading) to describe Christ's first day of missionary activity in Galilee. He preached "as one who had authority" in the synagogue of Capernaum and by a simple command he drove an unclean spirit out of a man. Later that same day, after sundown, he worked many more miracles of healing, beginning with Peter's mother-in-law, and he drove out many other demons. But very early next morning, he left Peter's house and went to a lonely place to pray. Here Peter and his companions found him and told him that all the people were waiting to see him in Capernaum. But he pointed out to them that his plan was to travel through the towns and villages of Galilee, to bring them all the good news of the messianic kingdom, as this was the purpose of his coming on earth.
Simon and Andrew: Although Peter was married, there is no mention of his wife in the whole gospel story. It is very probable that she had already died by this time, this would explain why her mother was living in Peter's house, to care for him and Andrew.
lifted her up: With the simple action of lifting her up by the hand, he cured her of her fever.
and she...them: St. Mark adds this little detail to show the immediateness and the complete effectiveness of the cure. She was straight away able to provide a meal and serve it to Christ and his four followers.
that evening at sundown: As it was a Sabbath day no loads could be carried and so the neighbors waited until the Sabbath was over at sundown. Then they brought their sick and their possessed ones on stretchers or pallets to the door of Peter's house where Christ was staying.
the whole city: It hardly could be called a city and the inhabitants both of Capernaum and its neighborhood would not be very numerous, but they all came to see miracles and the miracle-worker.
he healed...diseases: The people were not disappointed; he healed all kinds of diseases---there was no limit to his power---and he cast out many demons.
permit...speak: The people had as yet no idea as to what or who he was, but the demons knew him to be the Messiah and they would have spread this news about but he forbade them, and they had to obey. Christ wanted to manifest himself gradually, first preparing the minds and hearts of his hearers to understand the true nature of his mission. The people had the wrong idea of what the Messiah would be---a political leader who would free Israel from the hated Roman and pagan government---this wrong idea Christ gradually corrected. His "kingdom was not of this world."
a great...day: Next morning very early, he went to a deserted place outside the town to pray to his Father in solitude. Christ prayed daily but the gospels mention special occasions like the present one---the beginning of his preaching and healing mission---when he put himself in his Father's hands.
go...towns: He informs the four disciples now of his plans for the future. The good news has to be brought to all towns and all people.
that...Came out: This was the purpose of his incarnation, of his coming from heaven on earth in human form, namely, to tell all men of God's plan for them.
throughout all Galilee: He began that very day to fulfill the role his Father had destined for him.
APPLICATION: Surely the people of Capernaum saw enough that first day of Christ's public ministry among them to make them realize that this man from Nazareth who had come amongst them was no ordinary preacher, no ordinary rabbi, no ordinary man. They saw that he preached as one having authority; they saw that by a simple command he cast out demons and removed all bodily ailments. Yet though they were astonished and amazed at his power, their worldly outlook did not let them rise above their own small interests. Our Lord did not blame them or criticize them, he knew and fully understood their slowness of mind in regard to things spiritual, and he knew also that they would eventually give themselves wholeheartedly to his kingdom.
While he was prepared to wait for the desired effects which his miracles and preaching would eventually have on them, he hastened the arrival of that day by praying to his heavenly Father to send the graces necessary for their conversion into their hearts. When the four Apostles found him praying in a lonely place, they told him that all Capernaum was searching for him, but he knew why they were searching for him. They wanted to see more miracles and very likely they were hoping that he would stay on in Capernaum and the sick and the maimed from the whole of Galilee would be brought there for healing. This would increase their earthly business and prosperity. His answer to the Apostles, while not directly condemning this worldly outlook, shows that his mission had an entirely different objective. He had come on earth not to bring earthly prosperity to any town or country but to bring spiritual salvation and blessing on all people. That very morning he began to carry out his mission and for the remaining two years or more he went from town to town preaching the kingdom of God.
We Christians of today have many advantages over the people of Capernaum of that day. They saw Christ with their bodily eyes as a man of power amongst them; we see him with the eyes of faith as he really was and is---the Son of God who came on earth as man in order to make us sons of God. We know who he really was and we know the full meaning of his mission. We have seen that mission completed amongst us by his death on the cross and his resurrection. By his death he conquered death for us; by his resurrection he opened the gates of heaven for us and led the way there for all who will follow him.
This is the good news Christ brought to our world. This is the meaning of Christianity; this is why we are Christians. We are members of Christ's kingdom on earth, so that when our life here ends we shall be members of his everlasting heavenly kingdom. Yet, with all of this knowledge and with the example of the thousands and millions of saints who have lived according to this knowledge over the past nineteen hundred years and more, and who are now enjoying the reward Christianity promised them, how active and how effective is our Christian faith in our daily thoughts and deeds? In my daily dealings with my fellowman would I be picked out as a Christian? Do I, by my words and deeds, prove to those with whom I live and work that I am convinced there is a future life after death, that reaching that life is the most important thing in this world for me, and that it is through living my short earthly life as a true Christian that I can earn that eternal life?
If I can say yes to these questions I am, thank God, on the right road. But if my answer is "no" then it is time I had another good look to see where I went off the road, and to find out that I can return to that right road once more. God is merciful; Christ is patient with followers who straggle and wander, but it could be fatal to postpone for too long our call to the God of mercy. It will be too late if we delay turning to our patient Christ until we are about to die. Stop straggling and wandering off the highway today and the patient Christ will welcome you and help you back. There may be no tomorrow for you, you have no guarantee of it.-b101