Catholic Mass Readings and Reflection February 20, 2025
6th Week in Ordinary Time
20th February 2025 (Thursday)
Psalter: Week 2
Readings of the Day
First Reading: Genesis 9:1-13
God blessed Noah and his sons and said to them: “Be fertile and multiply and fill the earth. Dread fear of you shall come upon all the animals of the earth and all the birds of the air, upon all the creatures that move about on the ground and all the fishes of the sea; into your power they are delivered. Every creature that is alive shall be yours to eat; I give them all to you as I did the green plants. Only flesh with its lifeblood still in it you shall not eat. For your own lifeblood, too, I will demand an accounting: from every animal I will demand it, and from one man in regard to his fellow man I will demand an accounting for human life. If anyone sheds the blood of man, by man shall his blood be shed; For in the image of God has man been made. Be fertile, then, and multiply; abound on earth and subdue it.” God said to Noah and to his sons with him: “See, I am now establishing my covenant with you and your descendants after you and with every living creature that was with you: all the birds, and the various tame and wild animals that were with you and came out of the ark. I will establish my covenant with you, that never again shall all bodily creatures be destroyed by the waters of a flood; there shall not be another flood to devastate the earth.” God added: “This is the sign that I am giving for all ages to come, of the covenant between me and you and every living creature with you: I set my bow in the clouds to serve as a sign of the covenant between me and the earth.”
Psalm 102:16-18, 19-21, 29 and 22-23 (R. 20b)
R/. To you, Lord, I will offer a sacrifice of praise.
Gospel Acclamation
V/. Alleluia
R/. Alleluia
V/. Your words, Lord, are Spirit and life; you have the words of everlasting life.
R/. Alleluia.
Gospel: Mark 8:27-33
Jesus and his disciples set out for the villages of Caesarea Philippi. Along the way he asked his disciples, “Who do people say that I am?” They said in reply, “John the Baptist, others Elijah, still others one of the prophets.” And he asked them, “But who do you say that I am?” Peter said to him in reply, “You are the Christ.” Then he warned them not to tell anyone about him. He began to teach them that the Son of Man must suffer greatly and be rejected by the elders, the chief priests, and the scribes, and be killed, and rise after three days. He spoke this openly. Then Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him. At this he turned around and, looking at his disciples, rebuked Peter and said, “Get behind me, Satan. You are thinking not as God does, but as human beings do.”
Daily Gospel Reflection
Thursday – 6th Week in Ordinary Time
Main Point: In creating the whole creation and especially creating the humans in His own image and likeness, God has a definite purpose: to live fully and let others live joyfully
We are reeling through a devastating culture of death. Aggression, violence, and destruction mark this culture. Life is not valued. Values of life are not appreciated. Life is stifled and suffocated. In such a context, we need to rediscover and restore the value and beauty of life. We need to foster a culture of life.
Today’s first reading of God’s dialogue with Noah makes this clear. God is concerned about life. He declares very clearly that He will demand a strict accounting for any life and all the more human life. No life should be tampered with because all life is the gift of God and thus any violation of life is a violation against God Himself.
God makes a covenant with Noah and this is a covenant of life. It is an assurance that life shall not be destroyed but protected and promoted. God is a living God and He is a life-giving God. God lives and His covenant lives whenever and wherever the value and the values of life are safeguarded.
Seen in this perspective, sin is whatever disrupts and destroys life. When men fall to the sway of sin and destroy their life, God sends His only Son to be the Saviour, the Christ. Jesus then truly is the Christ, the Son of the Living God. This is his identity and his mission is to save life and restore it to its original beauty and dignity.
Blessed are those who realise this identity and mission of the Lord and surrender and commit themselves to the Lord! Peter declares this realisation. He answers to Jesus’question, “Who do you say I am?”, by saying, “You are the Christ”.
This is clearly not his knowledge. This is the knowledge, the revelation by God. Whoever thinks as God thinks and does what God wants to do, is with God. But whoever thinks as ordinary human beings according to human considerations and calculations, is in company with Satan. That is why when Peter rebuked Jesus against the path of suffering, rejection, persecution, and eventual death, Jesus sternly rebuked him in return. He reproaches, saying, “Get behind me, Satan”.
My Practice: In life, oftentimes, we may not understand God’s ways. We may think quite humanly according to human standards. Particularly we may not understand the salvific value of suffering. We may resent and resist. But let us realise it is God’s way and surrender to it
