Feb 8-13:
Feb 8 Monday (St. Jerome Emiliani, St. Josephine Bakhita, Virgin): Mk 6: 53-56: 53 And when they had crossed over, they came to land at Gennesaret, and moored to the shore. 54 And when they got out of the boat, immediately the people recognized him, 55 and ran about the whole neighborhood and began to bring sick people on their pallets to any place where they heard he was. 56 And wherever he came, in villages, cities, or country, they laid the sick in the marketplaces, and besought him that they might touch even the fringe of his garment; and as many as touched it were made well.
USCCB video reflections: http://www.usccb.org/bible/reflections/index.cfm; https://catholic-daily-reflections.com/daily-reflections/
The context: Gennesaret was a tract of land four
miles long on the western border of the Sea of Galilee, lying between current
day Tabgha and ancient Magdala. Known as the “Paradise of Galilee,” the land
was rich soil for farmers to grow walnuts, dates, olives, figs, and grapes and
it was a fishing center as well. Today’s Gospel passage describes the reaction
of the people of Gennesaret when the healing and preaching miracle-worker,
Jesus, unexpectedly landed on their shore. They considered it a golden opportunity
to hear his message and to get all their sick people healed by bringing them to
Jesus with trusting Faith in his Divine power. They were confident that even
touching Jesus’ garment would heal the sick. Actually, they may have been more
interested in using the healer to heal their sick people than in hearing Jesus’
preaching. Our innate human tendency is to use others to get something from
them. We make use of God when we call Him only when we are in need or when we
are sick or when tragedy strikes us. Some of us make use of the Church only to
get baptized, married and buried. Often, we make use of our friends to get
their company, help and support. Sometimes even grown-up children make use of
their parents’ home for eating and sleeping without returning anything to their
parents, who might rightly expect, but do not ask, a return, from them.
Life message: Instead of making use of God, let
us learn to live in His presence, and recognize His presence in others in the
community. 2) When we present our needs before Him, let us do so with expectant
Faith and gratitude, and promise Him with the help of His grace that we will do
His will. Fr. Tony (http://frtonyshomilies.com/) L/21
Feb 9 Tuesday: Mark: 7:1-13: 1
Now when the Pharisees gathered together to him, with some of the scribes, who
had come from Jerusalem, 2 they saw that some of his disciples ate with hands
defiled, that is, unwashed. 3 (For the Pharisees, and all the Jews, do not eat
unless they wash their hands, observing the tradition of the elders; 4 and when
they come from the market place, they do not eat unless they purify themselves;
and there are many other traditions which they observe, the washing of cups and
pots and vessels of bronze.) 5 And the Pharisees and the scribes asked him,
“Why do your disciples not live according to the tradition of the elders, but
eat with hands defiled?” 6 And he said to them, “Well did Isaiah prophesy
of you hypocrites, as it is written, `This people honors me with their lips,
but their heart is far from me; 7 in vain do they worship me, teaching as
doctrines the precepts of men.’ 8 You leave the commandment of God, and hold
fast the tradition of men.” 9 And he said to them, “You have a fine way of
rejecting the commandment of God, in order to keep your tradition! 10 For Moses
said, `Honor your father and your mother’; and, `He who speaks evil of father
or mother, let him surely die’; 11 but you say, `If a man tells his father or
his mother, What you would have gained from me is Korban’ (that is, given to
God) — 12 then you no longer permit him to do anything for his father or
mother, 13 thus making void the word of God through your tradition which you
hand on. And many such things you do.”
USCCB video reflections: http://www.usccb.org/bible/reflections/index.cfm; https://catholic-daily-reflections.com/daily-reflections/
The context: Today’s Gospel passage describes
Jesus’ confrontation with the Scribes and the Pharisees sent from Jerusalem by
the Jewish religion’s Supreme Court, the Sanhedrin, to assess Jesus’ “heretical
teachings.” Their first question to Jesus was why he did not command his
disciples to do the ritual washing of hands before meals or during a banquet.
Ex 30:17ff had laid down rules for how the priests should wash their hands
before offering sacrifice. Jewish tradition had extended this purification
to all Jews before every meal, in an effort to give meals a religious
significance. Ritual purification was a symbol of the moral purity a
person should have when approaching God. One should have a clean conscience and
clean mind. But the Pharisees had focused on the mere external rite.
Therefore, Jesus restored the genuine meaning of these precepts of the Law, the
purpose of which was to teach the right way to render homage to God.
Jesus’ explanation: Jesus shocked his
questioners by accusing them of hypocrisy and giving lip-service to God while
ignoring His teachings, replacing them with man-made interpretations. As an
example, Jesus pointed out how they were cleverly evading God’s commandment to
honor one’s parents by falsely interpreting the precept of Korban.
According to their interpretation, one could be freed from taking care of one’s
parents in their old age by declaring the money or property meant for their
support as “Korban,” or a special offering to God. Jesus told them that
the true source of defilement was a person’s heart and mind. True religion
should not be mere external observances disconnected from the mind and the
intentions.
Life messages: 1) We need to remember that the
essence of religion is a personal relationship with God and with our
fellow-human beings, not merely the external observances of religion. 2) God
expects from us that generosity and good will which urge us to practice more
mercy, offer more kindness, show more willingness to forgive offenses and
exercise more readiness to serve others lovingly and sacrificially. Fr.
Tony (http://frtonyshomilies.com/) L/21
Feb 10 Wednesday (St. Scholastica, Virgin): Mk
7:14-23: 14 And he called the people to him again, and said to
them, “Hear me, all of you, and understand: 15 there is nothing outside a
man which by going into him can defile him; but the things which come out of a
man are what defile him.” 17 And when he had entered the house, and left the
people, his disciples asked him about the parable. 18 And he said to them,
“Then are you also without understanding? Do you not see that whatever goes
into a man from outside cannot defile him, 19 since it enters, not his heart
but his stomach, and so passes on?” (Thus he declared all foods clean.) 20 And
he said, “What comes out of a man is what defiles a man. 21. From within
people, from their hearts, come evil thoughts, unchastity, theft, murder,22adultery,
greed, malice, deceit, licentiousness, envy, blasphemy, arrogance, folly.23All
these evils come from within and they defile.” All these evil things come from
within, and they defile a man
USCCB video reflections: http://www.usccb.org/bible/reflections/index.cfm; https://catholic-daily-reflections.com/daily-reflections/
The context: Today’s Gospel passage continues
Jesus’ explanation to the public of his revolutionary views on the ritual
washing of hands before meals. The Law (Ex 30:17ff) had laid down how priests
should wash before offering sacrifice. Jewish tradition had extended this
to all Jews before every meal in an effort to give meals a religious
significance. Ritual purification was a symbol of the moral purity a
person should have when approaching God. But the Pharisees had focused on the
mere external rite. For Jesus, true religion should not be mere external
observances disconnected from the mind and the intentions.
Jesus’ explanation: Jesus shocked the
people by his plain statement: ” … there is nothing outside a man which
by going into him can defile him; but the things which come out of a man are
what defile him.” In other words, Jesus made the shocking declaration
that all the ritual food laws of the Old Testament about Kosher food were
null and void. For Jesus, those laws were intended to teach the people of the
Old Covenant the importance of offering acceptable sacrifice and worship to God
with a clean conscience and clean mind, with clean thoughts and clean deeds.
Hence, the true source of defilement is a person’s heart and mind because “out
of the heart of man, come evil thoughts, fornication, theft, murder, adultery,
coveting, wickedness, deceit, licentiousness, envy, slander, pride,
foolishness.”
Life message: 1) We need to keep our minds
filled with love, mercy, compassion, and forgiveness if we want to practice the
true religion of loving God living in others. Hence, let us ask God to
help us cleanse our minds of evil thoughts and desires and free them from
jealousy, envy and pride. Fr. Tony (http://frtonyshomilies.com/)
L/21
Feb 11 Thursday: Mk 7: 24-30: (Our Lady of
Lourdes): https://www.franciscanmedia.org/our-lady-of-lourdes/ and
the 29th World Day of the Sick (introduced by Pope
St.John Paul II in 1992): It was three years and two months after the proclamation
of the dogma of the Immaculate Conception by Blessed Pope Pius IX (1854) that
Mary appeared for the first time on February 11, 1858, to St. Bernadette
Soubirous in the grotto at Massabielle, in Lourdes, France. Bernadette, a
14-year-old peasant girl was the oldest daughter among the six children of
Francois Soubirous and Louise Casterot. One day Bernadette went to the rocky
area to collect firewood with her sister and a friend. It was when she was left
behind by the other two near a big rock that Bernadette heard a loud noise. As
she turned to investigate, she caught sight of a very beautiful Lady clothed in
white with a rosary hanging on her arm standing in a grotto in the rock wall.
The beautiful Lady smiled at her and summoned her to pray the rosary and they
prayed together. Bernadette received 18 apparitions of our Lady starting in
February and ending in July 1858. (Watch the movie: Song of
Bernadette: https://youtu.be/wLKFAKIfn-w )
USCCB video reflections: http://www.usccb.org/bible/reflections/index.cfm; https://catholic-daily-reflections.com/daily-reflections/
On the 18th appearance the Holy Virgin gave the young
visionary the answer to her pastor’s question, “Who are you?” In the local
language Mary said, ‘I am the Immaculate Conception.” During her previous
appearances, the Blessed Virgin Mary had instructed Bernadette to tell people
to pray and do penance. All must pray especially for the conversion of sinners.
Our Lady instructed Bernadette to go and tell her pastor that she wished a
chapel to be built on the spot and processions to be made to the grotto. But it
wasn’t until four years later, in 1862, that the Bishop of the diocese declared
the faithful “justified in believing the reality of the apparition,” and Pope Pius IX authorized
him to permit the veneration of the Virgin Mary in Lourdes. A basilica was
built upon the rock of Massabielle by the parish priest in 1865. It was
consecrated, and the statue of Our Lady of Lourdes was solemnly crowned. In
1883 the foundation stone of another Church was laid, as the first was no
longer large enough. It was built at the foot of the basilica, was consecrated
in 1901, and was named the Church of the Rosary. Pope Leo XIII authorized a
special office and a Mass, in commemoration of the apparition, and in 1907 Pius
X extended the observance of this feast to the entire Church to be observed on
11 February. Since apparitions are private revelation and not
public revelation, Catholics are
not bound to believe them. However, all recent Popes have visited the Marian
shine. Benedict XV, Pius XI and St. John XXIII went there
as bishops, Pius XII as
papal delegate. Pope Pius XII also issued a Lourdes encyclical on the 100th
anniversary of the apparitions in 1958. Pope St. John Paul II visited
Lourdes three times, Pope Benedict XVI completed
a visit there on 15 September 2008 to commemorate the 150th anniversary of the
apparitions, and Pope Francis visited Lourdes in 2015.
Life Messages: The 29th World
Day of the Sick will be observed on February 11, 2021. This day
serves the purpose of reminding the members of the Church of the healing
ministry of the Church. It reminds us of our Christian obligation to
attend to the sick and the suffering around us. 2) This is a day to show
our gratitude to the caregivers, the doctors, the nurses, the health care
workers, the pastoral ministers and all those who strive to restore the
physical and spiritual health of the sick Fr. Tony (http://frtonyshomilies.com/) L/20
USCCB video reflections:
http://www.usccb.org/bible/reflections/index.cfm; https://catholic-daily-reflections.com/daily-reflections/
Fr. Tony (http://frtonyshomilies.com/) L/21
Feb 12 Friday: Mark 7:31-37: 31 Then he
returned from the region of Tyre, and went through Sidon to the Sea of Galilee,
through the region of the Decapolis. 32 And they brought to him a man who was
deaf and had an impediment in his speech; and they besought him to lay his hand
upon him. 33 And taking him aside from the multitude privately, he put his
fingers into his ears, and he spat and touched his tongue; 34 and looking up to
heaven, he sighed, and said to him, “Ephphatha,” that is, “Be opened.” 35 And
his ears were opened, his tongue was released, and he spoke plainly. 36 And he
charged them to tell no one; but the more he charged them, the more zealously
they proclaimed it. 37 And they were astonished beyond measure, saying, “He has
done all things well; he even makes the deaf hear and the dumb speak.”
USCCB video reflections:
http://www.usccb.org/bible/reflections/index.cfm; https://catholic-daily-reflections.com/daily-reflections/
The context: Today’s Gospel describes how Jesus, by
healing a deaf and mute man, fulfilled Isaiah’s Messianic prophecy, “The
eyes of the blind shall be opened and the ears of the deaf unstopped”(Isaiah
35:5). The Gospel invites us to become humble instruments of healing in
Jesus’ hands by giving a voice to the needy and the marginalized in our
society. It also challenges us to let our ears be opened to hear
the word of God, and to let our tongues be loosened to convey the Good News of
God’s love and salvation to others. Through this miracle story, Mark’s
account also reminds us that no one can be a follower of the Lord without
reaching out to the helpless (“preferential option for the poor”).
The miracle is described in seven ritual-like steps: (1)
Jesus leads the man away from the crowd; (2) puts his fingers into the
man’s ears; (3) spits on his own fingers; (4) touches the
man’s tongue with the spittle; (5) looks up to Heaven; (6) sighs;
(7) and speaks the healing command: “Ephphatha”
(“be opened.”). Jesus carries out this elaborate ritual probably
because the dumb man could not hear Jesus’ voice nor express his needs. Jesus
applies a little saliva to the man’s tongue because people in those days
believed that the spittle of holy men had curative properties. The miracle
is about the opening of a person’s ears so that he will be able to hear the
word of God, and the loosening of his tongue so that he will be able to profess
his Faith in Jesus.
Life messages: 1) Jesus desires to give us his
healing touch in order to loosen our tongues so that he may speak to the
spiritually hungry through us. Jesus invites us to give him our
hearts so that, through us, he may touch the lives of people in our day.
2) We must allow Jesus to heal our spiritual deafness and
muteness because otherwise we may find it hard to speak to God in prayer
and harder still to hear Him speaking to us through the Bible and through the
Church.
3) Let us imitate the dumb man in the Gospel by seeking
out Jesus, following him away from the crowd, spending more of our time in
getting to know him intimately through studying the Holy Scriptures and
experiencing him personally in our lives through prayer. The
growing awareness of the healing presence of Jesus in our lives will open our
ears and loosen our tongues. Fr. Tony (http://frtonyshomilies.com/) L/21
Feb 13 Saturday: Mark 8:1-10: 1 In those
days, when again a great crowd had gathered, and they had nothing to eat, he
called his disciples to him, and said to them, 2 “I have compassion on the
crowd, because they have been with me now three days, and have nothing to eat;
3 and if I send them away hungry to their homes, they will faint on the way;
and some of them have come a long way.” 4 And his disciples answered him, “How
can one feed these men with bread here in the desert?” 5 And he asked
them, “How many loaves have you?” They said, “Seven.”6 And he commanded the
crowd to sit down on the ground; and he took the seven loaves, and having given
thanks he broke them and gave them to his disciples to set before the people;
and they set them before the crowd. 7 And they had a few small fish; and having
blessed them, he commanded that these also should be set before them. 8 And
they ate, and were satisfied; and they took up the broken pieces left over,
seven baskets full. 9 And there were about four thousand people.10 And he sent
them away; and immediately he got into the boat with his disciples and went to
the district of Dalmanutha.
USCCB video reflections:
http://www.usccb.org/bible/reflections/index.cfm; https://catholic-daily-reflections.com/daily-reflections/
The context: The miraculous feeding described in
today’s Gospel took place on a hill near the Sea of Galilee after Jesus’ return
from the Decapolis. A large crowd remained with Jesus for three days,
participating in his preaching and healing ministry till all the food they had
carried with them was gone.
Jesus felt pity for the hungry multitude and instructed his
Apostles to feed them with what they had, namely, seven loaves of bread and a
few small fish. They brought these to Jesus who said a prayer of thanksgiving
over them and instructed them to distribute the bread and fish to the people.
After the crowd had eaten their fill, the Apostles filled seven baskets with
leftover broken pieces. This passage appears to be a repetition of Mk
6:34-44. But there are two differences: the first account shows the
miracle performed for the benefit of Jews, the second for Gentiles. In
the first account there are twelve basketfuls of scraps left over, in the
second only seven. The language is ‘Eucharistic’: Jesus “took the loaves
and giving thanks he broke them and handed them to his disciples to
distribute.”
Life messages: 1) We need to help Jesus to
feed the hungry today. Jesus invites us to give him our hearts so that he may
touch the lives of people in our day through us, just as he touched the lives
of millions through saintly souls like Francis of Assisi, Fr. Damien, Vincent
de Paul and Mother Teresa. Let us feed the spiritually hungry with words and
deeds of kindness, mercy, and sharing love.
2) We need to be fed by Jesus so that we may feed others.
Jesus continues to feed us in His Church with His own Body and Blood in Holy
Communion and with the word of God through the Holy Bible. Fr. Tony (http://frtonyshomilies.com/)
L/21
