Thursday and Friday of First Week in Ordinary Time: January 11 and January 12, 2007
Scripture for Friday: Hebrews 4:1-5.11. Psalm78:3-8. Mark 2:1-12.
For me Psalm 95 is similar to a wonderful cup of coffee early in the
morning. I wake up very early and always say this Psalm at the start of my
day. It is called an Invitatory Psalm in the Prayer of the Church and in
the Jewish community it is a song of praise offered to the Creator. This
Psalm is cited extensively in the Epistle to the Hebrews which we are
reading during these first weeks of the Ordinary Time calendar of the
Church. I tend to believe that Apollos is the author of Hebrews since he
labored with Paul and is probably a convert to Christianity from the
Diaspora or the Jews living in Alexandria, Egypt. He had a fondness for
the Psalms especially this one.He is using it to say something to his
community and we pick this up in the last line of today's selection: "We
have become partners of Christ if only we hold to the beginning of the
reality firm to the end." I found the translations difficult and went
back to the original Greek of this magnificent epistle. It's Greek is among
the finest and certainly not the Greek of a Paul or Mark! In looking at
about six different English translations, I chose the following to help us
understand that the writer is trying to parallel his exhortation to the
Christian community in the same way that the author of the Psalm was
challenging the Israelites to persevere in faithfulness. Here is the
translation that I think captures the last verse, verse 14: "We have been
given a share in Christ provided that we keep persevering while holding
fast to our confidence in him to the end." For me this parallels the Psalm
in its last verses and is telling us to remain in our original baptismal
commitment with great confidence and assurance in the presence of Christ
within us so that we remain faithful to the end and thus enter into the
rest of the Lord. Then in reading the excerpt about the leper in Mark's
Gospel we see him cured and then beginning his life with Jesus that he
becomes a proclaimer of the great work done in him by Jesus. Like the leper
we need to recall those special healings and interventions of the Lord in
our lives. Like the Psalm says, and like the one cured, we have to keep
recalling this marvelous healing we all have enjoyed through our baptismal
promises . By remembering these graces we are both healed and forgiven.
We confirm our love and trust in Jesus by accepting the challenges of this
day. Our perseverance through the difficulties we may encounter is a sign
that we are entering into the "rest" of the Lord as partakers with Jesus in
his life, his sufferings, and even his death and Resurrection. Yes, "If
today you hear his voice harden not your hearts." Thus like the aroma and
taste in that first cup of coffee, we will be exhilarated by what today's
Psalm 95 is calling us to be and to do. Amen.
Friday: "Do not forget the works of the Lord." (Psalm 78: verse 7) is our
prayerful response for today. We all have experienced the works of the
Lord in our lives. Jesus'words and deeds are effective and produce
healings, peace, and dignity to all of us who are open to Him. In his time
the outcasts, the lepers, the possessed, and the lame, blind and the
speechless are healed. In fact in these two first chapters of Mark we have
seen many miracles worked by the Lord Jesus and his effectiveness continues
today in the lives of many who believe in Him. Like the people of his time,
we, too are awestruck and say, "We have never seen anything like this."
Jesus does go beyond physical ills and heals us from our sins. His words
are confirmed by his miracles for he does have such power and authority as
the Son of God. I find it amazing that the Gospel of Mark which gives us
the most human Jesus is filled with so many divine miracles. Surely this
is another sign of its inspiration that the Gospel that gets us closes to
the historical Jesus is the one filled with the most miracles. Then in
turning to the Epistle to the Hebrews for today, we are encouraged to
persevere in our trust, our belief, and our commitment to Jesus so that we
might enter into his peaceful rest.
posted by Fr. Bert SM at 9:46 AM
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