MASS READINGS & SAINT QUOTE OF THE DAY : Tuesday - January 18, 2022

Tuesday - January 18, 2022

"The religion established by the sacrament of the Cross of Christ cannot be destroyed by any kind of cruelty."

--Pope St. Leo the Great

January 18, 2022

TUESDAY OF THE SECOND WEEK IN ORDINARY TIME
Lectionary: 312

 

Reading 1                                                     1 Sm 16:1-13

 

The LORD said to Samuel:

“How long will you grieve for Saul,

whom I have rejected as king of Israel?

Fill your horn with oil, and be on your way.

I am sending you to Jesse of Bethlehem,

for I have chosen my king from among his sons.”

But Samuel replied:

“How can I go?

Saul will hear of it and kill me.”

To this the LORD answered:

“Take a heifer along and say,

‘I have come to sacrifice to the LORD.’

Invite Jesse to the sacrifice, and I myself will tell you what to do;

you are to anoint for me the one I point out to you.”

 

Samuel did as the LORD had commanded him.

When he entered Bethlehem,

the elders of the city came trembling to meet him and inquired,

“Is your visit peaceful, O seer?”

He replied:

“Yes!  I have come to sacrifice to the LORD.

So cleanse yourselves and join me today for the banquet.”

He also had Jesse and his sons cleanse themselves

and invited them to the sacrifice.

As they came, he looked at Eliab and thought,

“Surely the LORD’s anointed is here before him.”

But the LORD said to Samuel:

“Do not judge from his appearance or from his lofty stature,

because I have rejected him.

Not as man sees does God see,

because he sees the appearance

but the LORD looks into the heart.”

Then Jesse called Abinadab and presented him before Samuel,

who said, “The LORD has not chosen him.”

Next Jesse presented Shammah, but Samuel said,

“The LORD has not chosen this one either.”

In the same way Jesse presented seven sons before Samuel,

but Samuel said to Jesse,

“The LORD has not chosen any one of these.”

Then Samuel asked Jesse,

“Are these all the sons you have?”

Jesse replied,

“There is still the youngest, who is tending the sheep.”

Samuel said to Jesse,

“Send for him;

we will not begin the sacrificial banquet until he arrives here.”

Jesse sent and had the young man brought to them.

He was ruddy, a youth handsome to behold

and making a splendid appearance.

The LORD said,

“There–anoint him, for this is he!” 

Then Samuel, with the horn of oil in hand,

anointed him in the midst of his brothers;

and from that day on, the Spirit of the LORD rushed upon David.

When Samuel took his leave, he went to Ramah.

 

Responsorial Psalm                                              89:20, 21-22, 27-28

 

R.        (21a)  I  have found David, my servant.

 

Once you spoke in a vision,

            and to your faithful ones you said:

“On a champion I have placed a crown;

            over the people I have set a youth.”

R.        I  have found David, my servant.

“I have found David, my servant;

            with my holy oil I have anointed him,

That my hand may be always with him,

            and that my arm may make him strong.”

R.        I  have found David, my servant.

“He shall say of me, ‘You are my father,

            my God, the Rock, my savior.’

And I will make him the first-born,

            highest of the kings of the earth.”

R.        I  have found David, my servant.

 

Alleluia                                                                      Eph 1:17-18              

R. Alleluia, alleluia.

May the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ

enlighten the eyes of our hearts,

that we may know what is the hope

that belongs to our call.

R. Alleluia, alleluia.

 

Gospel                                                                       Mk 2:23-28

 

As Jesus was passing through a field of grain on the sabbath,

his disciples began to make a path while picking the heads of grain.

At this the Pharisees said to him,

“Look, why are they doing what is unlawful on the sabbath?”

He said to them,

“Have you never read what David did

when he was in need and he and his companions were hungry?

How he went into the house of God when Abiathar was high priest

and ate the bread of offering that only the priests could lawfully eat,

and shared it with his companions?”

Then he said to them,

“The sabbath was made for man, not man for the sabbath.

That is why the Son of Man is lord even of the sabbath.”

 

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God has Anointed You, too!

Do you know why we have mornings? Why do we need to go to sleep and wake up every day, day after day?

 

Mornings are a sign of God's great mercy! He gives us new opportunities to make a fresh start every 24 hours. When I was a child, one of the greatest lessons my father taught me was to never make important decisions at night, because the view is clearer and brighter in the morning.

 

In today's Gospel reading, Jesus reminds us that if we pour new wine into old wineskins, the skins burst and we lose everything. Think of the new spiritual growth that you've experienced lately. Are you trying to pour your new life into old ways of doing things? I hope not, because this works as successfully as giving a pig a bath -- it will always return to its mud. It's like making a New Year's resolution to lose weight and then stocking your kitchen with sweets. It's like reading the lives of Saints and then admiring the heroes on television who win their goals using immoral methods.

 

Less obvious but more significant, it's like following God's commands the way King Saul did (in today's first reading), starting out in the right direction but making compromises along the way and opting to sin.

 

When we set out on the right path (e.g., doing God's will, listening well for his guidance, purifying our behaviors, and working hard to avoid sin), it's appropriate to pat ourselves on the back for our spiritual maturity. But the sound of the pat-pat-patting easily distracts us from the quiet voice of God as he tells us what to do or learn next. We become complacent. The day ends but we get stuck in the dark night, because our decisions hold us back from following Christ into new mornings.

 

In our earthly pilgrimage to heaven, there's no such thing as sitting still. Evil forces and our natural inclinations toward sin always tempt us louder and stronger whenever we're not putting real effort into moving closer to God. We slide back into old ways and wrong paths, perhaps so slowly and subtly that we don't notice, or with sudden bursts of old desires and faulty logic that overwhelm us.

 

To enjoy the new wine of spiritual growth, we must keep our eyes on Jesus. To do this, we have to remain ever aware that we're always in danger of straying onto the wrong path, the old path, the self-centered path, the prideful path. We need to remain ever aware that unless God is helping us, we are going to slip back into old ways again at any moment.

 

This is why we need mornings. No matter what we did yesterday, each awakening gives us new opportunities to turn away from yesterday's old wineskins and embrace the life of holiness anew. We can receive Jesus in the new wine of his Eucharistic Blood (ahhh, the blessings of being able to attend Daily Mass!) and choose to stay with him wherever he leads.

 

Today's Prayer

 

Thank You, Lord, because You arrange everything for the sake of those You love. Amen.

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God Bless You.....

The Rosary Family

The mother of Jesus promised St. Dominic that, “one day through the rosary & the scapular I shall save the world!”