Friday - January 22, 2023
He who speaks rightly should recognize that he receives the words from God.
-- St. Mark the Ascetic
TODAY'S READINGS
Friday of the Second Week in Ordinary Time
Lectionary: 315
Reading I
Heb 8:6-13
Brothers and sisters:
Now our high priest has obtained so much more excellent a ministry
as he is mediator of a better covenant,
enacted on better promises.
For if that first covenant had been faultless,
no place would have been sought for a second one.
But he finds fault with them and says:
Behold, the days are coming, says the Lord,
when I will conclude a new covenant with the house of
Israel and the house of Judah.
It will not be like the covenant I made with their fathers
the day I took them by the hand to lead
them forth from the land of Egypt;
for they did not stand by my covenant
and I ignored them, says the Lord.
But this is the covenant I will establish with the house of Israel
after those days, says the Lord:
I will put my laws in their minds
and I will write them upon their hearts.
I will be their God,
and they shall be my people.
And they shall not teach, each one his fellow citizen and kin, saying,
“Know the Lord,”
for all shall know me, from least to greatest.
For I will forgive their evildoing
and remember their sins no more.
When he speaks of a “new” covenant,
he declares the first one obsolete.
And what has become obsolete
and has grown old is close to disappearing.
Responsorial Psalm Ps 85:8 and 10, 11-12, 13-14
R. (11a) Kindness and truth shall meet.
Show us, O LORD, your mercy,
and grant us your salvation.
Near indeed is his salvation to those who fear him,
glory dwelling in our land.
R. Kindness and truth shall meet.
Kindness and truth shall meet;
justice and peace shall kiss.
Truth shall spring out of the earth,
and justice shall look down from heaven.
R. Kindness and truth shall meet.
The LORD himself will give his benefits;
our land shall yield its increase.
Justice shall walk before him,
and salvation, along the way of his steps.
R. Kindness and truth shall meet.
Alleluia
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ,
and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation.
R. Alleluia
Gospel Mk 3:13-19
Jesus went up the mountain and summoned those whom he wanted
and they came to him.
He appointed Twelve, whom he also named Apostles,
that they might be with him
and he might send them forth to preach
and to have authority to drive out demons:
He appointed the Twelve:
Simon, whom he named Peter;
James, son of Zebedee,
and John the brother of James, whom he named Boanerges,
that is, sons of thunder;
Andrew, Philip, Bartholomew,
Matthew, Thomas, James the son of Alphaeus;
Thaddeus, Simon the Cananean,
and Judas Iscariot who betrayed him.
**********************************
A Covenant of the Heart
Have you ever watched a child who repeatedly disobeys the rules, despite all warnings and punishments? Isn’t it exasperating? God feels the same way about you and me when we ignore his commandments. So, he came up with a solution. He’s such a wonderful parent!
Today’s first reading explains it well: God, finding fault with us, set up a new covenant and made it easier for us to remain faithful to it.
The reason it’s easier is not because the new covenant has fewer rules. In fact, Jesus made obedience much harder by telling us to imitate him; for example: love our enemies, go the extra mile for people who don’t deserve it, never retaliate when we’re wronged, accept persecution as a blessing.
In the Old Days, obedience meant gouging out the eye of someone who gouged yours out in a brawl, which was much better than destroying the bully’s whole family, as they used to do. Then Jesus came along and said, “Treat others the way you would like to be treated! If he punches out your eye, forgive him and then bake him a cake!” Or something like that.
So how is the new covenant easier? Jesus took our sins to his death and then conquered death and ascended to heaven. Then he gave us his own Holy Spirit. Since Christ’s own holiness is now active within us, God’s laws are “written upon our hearts.” It’s no longer just an act of the will; it’s an act of the heart! If we truly love God in our hearts, we truly desire to become like him.
In other words, behaving like Jesus is now an instinct that comes from deep within our souls. Think about it. When you do something that’s unloving (a.k.a. sinful), how do you feel? Are you enjoying the moment? The last time you lashed out in anger, did you get an overwhelming sense of “ahhhhh, how wonderful I feel now!” — or did you feel cranky and unhappy?
We’re happiest when we let the Holy Spirit within us take over so that we behave like Jesus. Deep down, in our hearts, we know what we’re supposed to do. And just in case we misread our hearts, the message is plastered all over the Bible, all over the lyrics of Christian music, all over the writings of Saints, all over the Rosary, and even in the smile of the kid who finally stopped getting into trouble.
However, be careful and discerning. Unless we compare what we see and hear on the outside with what the Holy Spirit is telling us on the inside, we will not stop returning to sinful ways. A wonderful prayer that connects our heads to our hearts is: “Holy Spirit, HELP!”
Today's Prayer
Dear Lord, I want to reply decisively to Your call and to the mission You entrust to me today. Amen.
The mother of Jesus promised St. Dominic that, “one day through the rosary & the scapular I shall save the world!”
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