Archive for January 16, 2021

Second Sunday in Ordinary Time

Posted: January 16, 2021 by CatholicJules in Sunday Reflections
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Hearing the Call: Scott Hahn Reflects on the Second Sunday in Ordinary Time

Readings:
1 Samuel 3:3–10, 19
Psalm 40:2, 4, 7–10
1 Corinthians 6:13–15, 17–20
John 1:35–42
 

In the call of Samuel and of the first Apostles, today’s readings shed light on our own calling to be followers of Christ.
Notice in the Gospel today that John’s disciples are prepared to hear God’s call. They are already looking for the Messiah, so they trust in John’s word and follow when he points out the Lamb of God walking by.
Samuel is also waiting on the Lord—sleeping near the Ark of the Covenant where God’s glory dwells, taking instruction from Eli, the high priest.

Samuel listened to God’s word and the Lord was with him. And Samuel, through his word, turned all Israel to the Lord (see 1 Samuel 3:21; 7:2–3). The disciples too heard and followed—words we hear repeatedly in today’s Gospel. They stayed with the Lord and by their testimony brought others to the Lord.

These scenes from salvation history should give us strength to embrace God’s will and to follow His call in our lives.

God is constantly calling to each of us—personally, by name (see Isaiah 43:1; John 10:3). He wants us to seek Him in love, to long for His word (see Wisdom 6:11–12). We must desire always, as the Apostles did, to stay where the Lord stays, to constantly seek His face (see Psalm 42:2).

For we are not our own, but belong to the Lord, as Paul says in today’s Epistle.
We must have ears open to obedience, and write His word within our hearts. We must trust in the Lord’s promise—that if we come to Him in faith, He will abide with us (see John 15:14; 14:21–23), and raise us by His power. And we must reflect in our lives the love He has shown us, so that others too may find the Messiah.

As we renew our vows of discipleship in this Eucharist, let us approach the altar singing the new song of today’s Psalm: “Behold I come . . . to do your will O God.”

On Today’s Gospel

Posted: January 16, 2021 by CatholicJules in Personal Thoughts & Reflections
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Jesus lovingly seeks us sinners out, to offer us freedom from the bondages of sin and an opportunity to walk in His light. And the only response He requires from us is to follow Him; not simply in word but in action. That is to follow Him as His disciple so as to lead others to Him by our example.

How can we ask anyone to follow us if we lead lives of duality even duplicity?

We wear our Christian ‘hat’ in church and take it off to wear another outside of church. We lead double lives one for our church friends to see while another is seen by family and friends. We might again exhibit another different behaviour when it comes to strangers. We tend to forget that the Lord our God sees and knows everything! “No created thing can hide from him; everything is uncovered and open to the eyes of the one to whom we must give account of ourselves.”

Let us simply be identified as a child of God so loved by our Heavenly Father to one and all. That we who are so loved by Him have been inserted into the life, death and resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ by Baptism. We are therefore His One Body, His disciples on mission to make disciples of all nations. And such we are always confident in approaching the throne of grace, that we shall have mercy from Him and find grace when we are in need of help. Amen. Allelulia!

First reading

Hebrews 4:12-16

Let us be confident in approaching the throne of grace

The word of God is something alive and active: it cuts like any double-edged sword but more finely: it can slip through the place where the soul is divided from the spirit, or joints from the marrow; it can judge the secret emotions and thoughts. No created thing can hide from him; everything is uncovered and open to the eyes of the one to whom we must give account of ourselves.

    Since in Jesus, the Son of God, we have the supreme high priest who has gone through to the highest heaven, we must never let go of the faith that we have professed. For it is not as if we had a high priest who was incapable of feeling our weaknesses with us; but we have one who has been tempted in every way that we are, though he is without sin. Let us be confident, then, in approaching the throne of grace, that we shall have mercy from him and find grace when we are in need of help.

Gospel

Mark 2:13-17

Your light must shine in the sight of men

Jesus went out to the shore of the lake; and all the people came to him, and he taught them. As he was walking on he saw Levi the son of Alphaeus, sitting by the customs house, and he said to him, ‘Follow me.’ And he got up and followed him.

    When Jesus was at dinner in his house, a number of tax collectors and sinners were also sitting at the table with Jesus and his disciples; for there were many of them among his followers. When the scribes of the Pharisee party saw him eating with sinners and tax collectors, they said to his disciples, ‘Why does he eat with tax collectors and sinners?’ When Jesus heard this he said to them, ‘It is not the healthy who need the doctor, but the sick. I did not come to call the virtuous, but sinners.’