1st Week in Ordinary Time
12th January 2024 (Friday)
Psalter: Week 1
Reading of the Day
First Reading: 1 Samuel 8:4-7, 10-22a
In those days: All the elders of Israel gathered together and came to Samuel at Ramah and said to him, “Behold, you are old and your sons do not walk in your ways. Now appoint for us a king to judge us like all the nations.” But the thing displeased Samuel when they said, “Give us a king to judge us.” And Samuel prayed to the Lord. And the Lord said to Samuel, “Obey the voice of the people in all that they say to you, for they have not rejected you, but they have rejected me from being king over them.” So Samuel told all the words of the Lord to the people who were asking for a king from him. He said, “These will be the ways of the king who will reign over you: he will take your sons and appoint them to his chariots and to be his horsemen, and to run before his chariots. And he will appoint for himself commanders of thousands and commanders of fifties, and some to plough his ground and to reap his harvest, and to make his implements of war and the equipment of his chariots. He will take your daughters to be perfumers and cooks and bakers. He will take the best of your fields and vineyards and olive orchards and give them to his servants. He will take the tenth of your grain and of your vineyards and give it to his officers and to his servants. He will take your male servants and female servants and the best of your young men and your donkeys, and put them to his work. He will take the tenth of your flocks, and you shall be his slaves. And in that day you will cry out because of your king, whom you have chosen for yourselves, but the Lord will not answer you in that day.” But the people refused to obey the voice of Samuel; And they said, “No! But there shall be a king over us, that we also may be like all the nations, and that our king may judge us and go out before us and fight our battles.” And when Samuel had heard all the words of the people, he repeated them in the ears of the Lord. And the Lord said to Samuel, “Obey their voice and make them a king.”
Psalm 89:16-17, 18-19 (R. 2a)
R/. I will sing forever of your mercies, O Lord.
Alleluia
V/. Alleluia R/. Alleluia
V/. A great prophet has arisen among us! and God has visited his people!
R/. Alleluia
Gospel: Mark 2:1-12
When Jesus returned to Capernaum after some days, it was reported that he was at home. And many were gathered together, so that there was no more room, not even at the door. And he was preaching the word to them. And they came, bringing to him a paralytic carried by four men. And when they could not get near him because of the crowd, they removed the roof above him, and when they had made an opening, they let down the bed on which the paralytic lay. And when Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralytic, “Son, your sins are forgiven.” Now some of the scribes were sitting there, questioning in their hearts, “Why does this man speak like that? He is blaspheming! Who can forgive sins but God alone?” And immediately Jesus, perceiving in his spirit that they thus questioned within themselves, said to them, “Why do you question these things in your hearts? Which is easier, to say to the paralytic, ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or to say, ‘Rise, take up your bed and walk’? But that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins”—he said to the paralytic—“I say to you, rise, pick up your bed, and go home.” And he rose and immediately picked up his bed and went out before them all, so that they were all amazed and glorified God, saying, “We never saw anything like this!”
Daily Gospel Reflection
Highlight: Authority: True faith is never sickly!
Guidlines: True healing is holistic because it changes the whole person and makes him whole. Those who are only physically healed but are not changed in their life are only partially healed
1. One greatest malaise of our present society is a rapid and steep decline of faith. This pertains not only to the religious domain but also to all the fields and spheres of life. There is a lack of faith in families, in religious circles, in politics, in business, and what not.
2. The immediate consequence is interior unhealthiness. Those who lack faith and are not faithful can never be happy and healthy in the full sense.
3. The people of Israel in the first reading lacked this faith in God. They are fascinated by the concept and the rule of earthly kings of their neighbourhood.
4. They completely forget the fact that God is the greatest king, the king of kings. No other king can replace God for His might and benevolence.
5. They also totally lose sight of the enormous mercy of God toward them in their history. Even the wise warning of Samuel about the perils of an evil king like slavery, suppression, and extortion.
6. But his wise warning could not dissuade them. They are obstinate in their demand. Consequently, they not only reject Samuel’s advice but God Himself.
7. In the gospel too we have an example of faith and lack of faith respectively. The friends of a paralytic, brought to Jesus through the roof exemplify this faith. The scribes who blame Jesus for blasphemy embody this lack of faith.
8. The four friends of the paralytic realizing the almost impossibility of reaching Jesus through the crowd make an opening in the roofing and let down their friend on the bed straight in front of Jesus.
9. On the other hand, the scribes harp on Jesus’ healing words, “Your sins are forgiven” and accuse him of blasphemy.
Practice: True faith is essentially making an opening in the heart and opening the heart to the Lord; lack of faith is closing the heart to the Lord. Faith heals while unfaith sickens
