Wednesday - February 01, 2023
The Beatitudes teach us to find hope and even happiness in what the world struggles to avoid: poverty, sorrow, hunger, and persecution. We can understand them only when we understand the promise within each of them.
~~ Blessed Mother Teresa
Wednesday of the Fourth Week in Ordinary Time
Lectionary: 325
Reading I
Heb 12:4-7, 11-15
Brothers and sisters:
In your struggle against sin
you have not yet resisted to the point of shedding blood.
You have also forgotten the exhortation addressed to you as children:
My son, do not disdain the discipline of the Lord
or lose heart when reproved by him;
for whom the Lord loves, he disciplines;
he scourges every son he acknowledges.
Endure your trials as “discipline”;
God treats you as his sons.
For what "son” is there whom his father does not discipline?
At the time, all discipline seems a cause not for joy but for pain,
yet later it brings the peaceful fruit of righteousness
to those who are trained by it.
So strengthen your drooping hands and your weak knees.
Make straight paths for your feet,
that what is lame may not be dislocated but healed.
Strive for peace with everyone,
and for that holiness without which no one will see the Lord.
See to it that no one be deprived of the grace of God,
that no bitter root spring up and cause trouble,
through which many may become defiled.
Responsorial Psalm 103:1-2, 13-14, 17-18a
R. (see 17) The Lord’s kindness is everlasting to those who fear him.
Bless the LORD, O my soul;
and all my being, bless his holy name.
Bless the LORD, O my soul,
and forget not all his benefits.
R. The Lord’s kindness is everlasting to those who fear him.
As a father has compassion on his children,
so the LORD has compassion on those who fear him,
For he knows how we are formed;
he remembers that we are dust.
R. The Lord’s kindness is everlasting to those who fear him.
But the kindness of the LORD is from eternity
to eternity toward those who fear him,
And his justice toward children’s children
among those who keep his covenant.
R. The Lord’s kindness is everlasting to those who fear him.
Alleluia
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
My sheep hear my voice, says the Lord;
I know them, and they follow me.
R. Alleluia
Gospel Mk 6:1-6
Jesus departed from there and came to his native place, accompanied by his disciples.
When the sabbath came he began to teach in the synagogue,
and many who heard him were astonished.
They said, “Where did this man get all this?
What kind of wisdom has been given him?
What mighty deeds are wrought by his hands!
Is he not the carpenter, the son of Mary,
and the brother of James and Joseph and Judas and Simon?
And are not his sisters here with us?”
And they took offense at him.
Jesus said to them,
“A prophet is not without honor except in his native place
and among his own kin and in his own house.”
So he was not able to perform any mighty deed there,
apart from curing a few sick people by laying his hands on them.
He was amazed at their lack of faith.
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Strength for Your Wobbly Knees
Oh how pathetic we look when we feel discouraged and weary of our trials! Today’s first reading describes us as having weak knees and drooping hands.
For some reason, we assume we’re not supposed to suffer. When new troubles begin, we think something’s amiss. We think we’ll be better off getting rid of it quickly. We cry to God for help. When that doesn’t work, we treat prayer formulas like magic spells. We behave as if God made a mistake in allowing the hardship. We look for the nearest exit.
It’s right and holy to seek relief through prayer, protective action, a counselor or a doctor. If this makes a difference, it’s because God is confirming that we’re supposed to conquer the problem and move on. But if all normal, healthy and faith-filled attempts to bring relief fail, it does not mean that we’re a failure, nor does it mean that God is failing us. What it means is: There’s a greater blessing and we haven’t reached it yet.
In every trial, there’s an important lesson that God is teaching us. Today’s scripture tells us to see our trials as discipline from God. The word “discipline” has the same root as “disciple” — it means to receive training or education that corrects, molds, and builds character. Yet, we think that discipline is a penalty for wrong-doing, and so we revert back to the reactions of our childhood when we tried to squirm and cheat and charm our way out of due punishments.
Discipline seems a cause for grief, not joy, but later it brings “the peaceful fruit of righteousness.” Grumbling and complaining mean that we’re not trusting God enough. We feel forgotten by him, but really it’s us who do the forgetting. We’re forgetting that God hurts with us, that Jesus bears the punishment with us! He doesn’t enjoy it any more than you do. He cares about your feelings far more than you do, but he sees the bigger picture. He knows that a short-cut to the end of the trial would cause more misery in the long run, not less.
God’s timing is always perfect. He delivers us from our trials at the earliest possible moment, as long as we cooperate with him instead of making matters worse.
Knowing this about God should strengthen our weak knees and drooping hands. Otherwise, our drooping hands scrape knuckles along the hard and bumpy road. They get scratched and bruised, and in frustration we grab rocks to throw at nearby travelers who are unfortunate enough to be on the same path.
Getting upset (“bent out of shape”) doesn’t bring a swifter end to the trial. Only when we embrace our discipline do we discover the healing that God has in mind for us.
Today's Prayer
Lord Jesus, Give me the grace to discover You in the simplicity of people, especially in the closest ones that perhaps do not get my attention. Amen.
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