3rd Week in Ordinary Time
27th January 2024 (Saturday)
Psalter: Week 3
Reading of the Day
First Reading: 2 Samuel 12:1-7a, 10-17
In those days: The Lord sent Nathan to David. He came to him and said to him, “There were two men in a certain city, one rich and the other poor. The rich man had very many flocks and herds, but the poor man had nothing but one little ewe lamb, which he had bought. And he brought it up, and it grew up with him and with his children. It used to eat of his morsel and drink from his cup and lie in his arms, and it was like a daughter to him. Now there came a traveller to the rich man, and he was unwilling to take one of his own flock or herd to prepare for the guest who had come to him, but he took the poor man’s lamb and prepared it for the man who had come to him.” Then David’s anger was greatly kindled against the man, and he said to Nathan, “As the Lord lives, the man who has done this deserves to die, and he shall restore the lamb fourfold, because he did this thing, and because he had no pity.” Nathan said to David, “You are the man! Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel, ‘Now therefore the sword shall never depart from your house, because you have despised me, and have taken the wife of Uriah the Hittite to be your wife.’ Thus says the Lord, ‘Behold, I will raise up evil against you out of your own house. And I will take your wives before your eyes and give them to your neighbour, and he shall lie with your wives in the sight of this sun. For you did it secretly, but I will do this thing before all Israel, and before the sun.” David said to Nathan, “I have sinned against the Lord.” And Nathan said to David, “The Lord also has put away your sin; you shall not die. Nevertheless, because by this deed you have utterly scorned the Lord, the child who is born to you shall die.” Then Nathan went to his house. And the Lord afflicted the child that Uriah’s wife bore to David, and he became sick. David therefore sought God on behalf of the child. And David fasted and went in and lay all night on the ground. And the elders of his house stood beside him, to raise him from the ground, but he would not, nor did he eat food with them.
Psalm 51:12-13, 14-15, 16-17 (R. 12a)
R/. Create a pure heart for me, O God.
Alleluia
V/. Alleluia R/. Alleluia
V/. God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.
R/. Alleluia
Gospel: Mark 4:35-41
On that day, when evening had come, Jesus said to his disciples, “Let us go across to the other side.” And leaving the crowd, they took him with them in the boat, just as he was. And other boats were with him. And a great windstorm arose, and the waves were breaking into the boat, so that the boat was already filling. But he was in the stern, asleep on the cushion. And they woke him and said to him, “Teacher, do you not care that we are perishing?” And he awoke and rebuked the wind and said to the sea, “Peace! Be still!” And the wind ceased, and there was a great calm. He said to them, “Why are you so afraid? Have you still no faith?” And they were filled with great fear and said to one another, “Who then is this, that even the wind and the sea obey him?”
Daily Gospel Reflection
Highlight: Defocus deviates!
Guidlines: When one loses self-focus, one loses self-awareness and self-renewal, and thus life itself becomes a loss.
1. Focus is the key factor in any sphere of human life. The loss of focus leads to disastrous consequences. It makes one lose the sense of purpose and direction. It makes one distracted, deviated, and distorted. It makes one mediocre and uncommitted. It reduces drastically the quality and density of one’s performance and excellence.
2. This is a double focus: Focus on self and focus on God. Self-focus is not self-interest or selfishness. Rather it is a concern to discover and groom the true self and perfect it. It is a constant striving to eliminate the layers of a false self and to brighten and rejuvenate the real self. In other words, self-focus is a journey of self-discovery and self-renewal.
3. This self-focus was missing in David. He committed the sins of adultery and murder. But he was not self-conscious. Prophet Nathan tries to make David aware of his sin through a story. He narrates the story of a rich man with many flocks and a poor man with only one lamb. At the arrival of a guest, the rich man feasts with the only lamb of the poor man, instead of one from his many flocks.
4. The rich man in the story clearly points to David in direct reference to his sin of taking Uriah’s wife despite his numerous women. The story was supposed to bring David self-focus and thus lead to repentance and self-rectification. But still, David failed in self-focus. Hence Nathan had to tell him explicitly, “You are the man!”
5. In the gospel, we have the other aspect of the loss of focus, and that is the focus on the Lord. The disciples in the boat are attacked and frightened by a storm. In their panic, they lose their focus on the Lord. They find him asleep. They get annoyed that he is not bothered even in their perishing situation.
6. This is clearly the loss of focus on the Lord. They fail to believe that as long as the Lord is present with them in the same boat, nothing can harm them because no power can overpower his power. Further, they fail to realize that he is ever concerned for them and that he would never allow any harm to befall them.
Practice: If the loss of God-focus and self-focus is the cause for many evils in human life, leading to a lack of devotion and dedication, then the only remedy to arrest such a situation is to reawaken this double focus. Be focused on God and be focused on the true self!
