5th Week in Ordinary Time
05th February 2024 (Monday)
Psalter: Week 1
Reading of the Day
First Reading: 1 Kings 8:1-7, 9-13
In those days: Solomon assembled the elders of Israel and all the heads of the tribes, the leaders of the fathers’ houses of the people of Israel, before King Solomon in Jerusalem, to bring up the ark of the covenant of the Lord out of the city of David, which is Sion. And all the men of Israel assembled to King Solomon at the feast in the month Ethanim, which is the seventh month. And all the elders of Israel came, and the priests took up the ark. And they brought up the ark of the Lord, the tent of meeting, and all the holy vessels that were in the tent; the priests and the Levites brought them up. And King Solomon and all the congregation of Israel, who had assembled before him, were with him before the ark, sacrificing so many sheep and oxen that they could not be counted or numbered. Then the priests brought the ark of the covenant of the Lord to its place in the inner sanctuary of the house, in the Most Holy Place, underneath the wings of the cherubim. For the cherubim spread out their wings over the place of the ark, so that the cherubim overshadowed the ark and its poles. There was nothing in the ark except the two tablets of stone that Moses put there at Horeb, where the Lord made a covenant with the people of Israel, when they came out of the land of Egypt. And when the priests came out of the Holy Place, a cloud filled the house of the Lord, so that the priests could not stand to minister because of the cloud, for the glory of the Lord filled the house of the Lord. Then Solomon said, “The Lord has said that he would dwell in thick darkness. I have indeed built you an exalted house, a place for you to dwell in for ever.”
Psalm 132:6-7, 8-10 (R. 8a)
R/. Go up, Lord, to the place of your rest.
Alleluia
V/. Alleluia R/. Alleluia
V/. Jesus was proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom and healing every disease and every affliction among the people.
R/. Alleluia
Gospel: Mark 6:53-56
At that time: When Jesus and his disciples had crossed over, they came to land at Gennesaret and moored to the shore. And when they got out of the boat, the people immediately recognized him and ran about the whole region and began to bring the sick people on their beds to wherever they heard he was. And wherever he came, in villages, cities, or countryside, they laid the sick in the marketplaces, and implored him that they might touch even the fringe of his garment. And as many as touched it were made well.
Daily Gospel Reflection
Highlight: To live a new life is to be healed!
Guidelines: Life of sin invariably brings sickness in various aspects. It will be spiritual, moral, psychological, social and even physical. Such deformation by sin needs transformation by God
1. In the gospel, Jesus is on an extensive ministry of healing the sick. He is always ready and available. It remains then how one approaches Jesus for this healing. For this, some basic requirements are there.
2. What is needed is to hear and know about him, to recognize his presence, go near him wherever he is, to place oneself disposed to be touched by him, and thus get healed. We can marvel at the depth of people’s faith in Jesus. They believe that even a touch of him can heal their sickness.
3. However, all this is not just a matter of sickness and healing. It is more than that. It is a matter of contrast between sin and grace. While the touch of sin brought sickness and misery, the touch of grace, transmitted by the re-creator brings healing, health, and joy.
4. Sin brings sickness, not necessarily a physical one, but a radical sickness. This disrupts human dignity, beauty, and propensity for good. We need then the power of new creation, to heal us and restore wholeness to us.
5. In the first account of creation, God brings life from emptiness. In the gospel, we see a new account of a new creation or a “re-creation”. Jesus is the author of this new life. He brings forth health and wholeness through the touch of healing.
6. This in fact is the real spirit of creation. And we will be faithful to this spirit of creation when we allow God to create in us a new spirit. This new spirit will make a decisive break from sin and strive ever to live a new life of grace. This transition and renewal need the healing touch of the Lord.
7. St Agatha, virgin and martyr whom we venerate today, stands emblematic of this new life of grace. She was so cruelly persecuted and later killed because she consecrated her virginity to the Lord and did not yield to the sensual advances of her governor of Sicily in Italy.
Practice: All of us need to be re-created and renewed. This is possible only when we seek the author of new life, only when we allow him to touch and heal us
