Monday - February 15, 2021
Mary alone gives to the unfortunate children of unfaithful Eve entry into that earthly paradise where they may walk pleasantly with God and be safely hidden from their enemies. There they can feed without fear of death on the delicious fruit of the tree of life and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. They can drink copiously the heavenly waters of that beauteous fountain which gushes forth in such abundance.
-- St. Louis De Montfort
TODAY'S READINGS
February 15, 2021
Monday of the Sixth
Week in Ordinary Time
Lectionary: 335
The man had relations with his wife Eve,
and she conceived and bore Cain, saying,
“I have produced a man with the help of the LORD.”
Next she bore his brother Abel.
Abel became a keeper of flocks, and Cain a tiller of the soil.
In the course of time Cain brought an offering to the LORD
from the fruit of the soil,
while Abel, for his part,
brought one of the best firstlings of his flock.
The LORD looked with favor on Abel and his offering,
but on Cain and his offering he did not.
Cain greatly resented this and was crestfallen.
So the LORD said to Cain:
“Why are you so resentful and crestfallen.
If you do well, you can hold up your head;
but if not, sin is a demon lurking at the door:
his urge is toward you, yet you can be his master.”
Cain said to his brother Abel, “Let us go out in the field.”
When they were in the field,
Cain attacked his brother Abel and killed him.
Then the LORD asked Cain, “Where is your brother Abel?”
He answered, “I do not know.
Am I my brother’s keeper?”
The LORD then said: “What have you done!
Listen: your brother’s blood cries out to me from the soil!
Therefore you shall be banned from the soil
that opened its mouth to receive
your brother’s blood from your hand.
If you till the soil, it shall no longer give you its produce.
You shall become a restless wanderer on the earth.”
Cain said to the LORD: “My punishment is too great to bear.
Since you have now banished me from the soil,
and I must avoid your presence
and become a restless wanderer on the earth,
anyone may kill me at sight.”
“Not so!” the LORD said to him.
“If anyone kills Cain, Cain shall be avenged sevenfold.”
So the LORD put a mark on Cain, lest anyone should kill him at sight.
Adam again had relations with his wife,
and she gave birth to a son whom she called Seth.
“God has granted me more offspring in place of Abel,” she said,
“because Cain slew him.”
Responsorial Psalm 50:1 and 8, 16bc-17, 20-21
R.
(14a) Offer to God a sacrifice of
praise.
God the LORD has spoken and summoned the earth,
from the rising of the sun to its setting.
“Not for your sacrifices do I rebuke you,
for your burnt offerings are before me always.”
R. Offer to God a sacrifice of praise.
“Why do you recite my statutes,
and profess my covenant with your mouth
Though you hate discipline
and cast my words behind you?”
R. Offer to God a sacrifice of praise.
“You sit speaking against your brother;
against your mother’s son you spread rumors.
When you do these things, shall I be deaf to it?
Or do you think that I am like yourself?
I will correct you by drawing them up before your eyes.”
R. Offer to God a sacrifice of praise.
Alleluia Jn 14:6
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
I am the way and
the truth and the life, says the Lord;
no one comes to the
Father except through me.
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
Gospel Mk 8:11-13
The Pharisees came forward and began to argue with Jesus,
seeking from him a sign from heaven to test him.
He sighed from the depth of his spirit and said,
“Why does this generation seek a sign?
Amen, I say to you, no sign will be given to this generation.”
Then he left them, got into the boat again,
and went off to the other shore.
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Sailing Away from Arguments
Have you ever tried to help someone who would not listen to what you were really saying? They only heard what they wanted to hear, if anything at all. Usually, it's something that gives them an excuse to disbelieve you.
It's so very frustrating, isn't it? We want to do good for them, but they deafen their ears or they misconstrue our intent or they twist our meaning to suit their purposes.
When this happens, how do you feel? "Frustrated" yes, but that's not all. There's something icky about it. We feel torn between giving up and trying one more time. We pray for the other person, but we wish we could find the magic words that would finally break through whatever's shrouding that person's mind.
That's probably how Jesus felt in today's Gospel story. The Pharisees' reason for requesting a sign was not motivated by a hope that Jesus was the Messiah. They were asking for an argument. If they truly wanted to believe in him, they would have been converted by the many previous signs they had already witnessed.
In this scripture, Jesus shows us what to do when people argue with us. If they're not asking questions that would help them understand what we've said, they're not interested in learning something new from us. Debating them is pointless and will only cause hurt and further division.
Like Jesus, we have to walk away from the argument. Our words are not helping them. The most caring thing we can do is to climb into our boats, like Jesus, and paddle to the other side of the sea to find people who are ready to listen -- people who ask questions for the sake of discovering the truth, people who are humble enough to believe that they don't have all the answers nor see the full picture.
It's not easy to walk away from an argument when we're trying to help. It hurts to see people continue to suffer from the lies and misconceptions they believe. That's okay; we're not supposed to like it -- we care. But walking away is not quitting. We'll continue to pray for their conversion to the truth, and we'll show by our lives the truth of our words.
It might take many years and hard troubles before they'll be ready to listen, but never despair. God wants to help them even more than you do, and he's not finished with them. God will not allow them to die before they're ready to spend eternity with him, because you are praying for them in the spirit of his love.
Remember, even some Pharisees became believers in Jesus. It was a Pharisee who donated his tomb to the crucified Lord.
Today's Prayer
Lord Jesus, I surrender to You my loved ones who are difficult to live
with. I pray for them and for me. Teach me to accept Your timing and firmly
unite our hearts in You. Amen.
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The mother of Jesus promised St. Dominic that, “one day through the rosary & the scapular I shall save the world!”
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