February 3
Wednesday of the Fourth Week in Ordinary Time
First Reading
Hebrews 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
Psalms 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
John 10:27
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
My sheep hear my voice, says the Lord;
I know them, and they follow me.
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
Gospel
Mark 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.
Give a Mass Offering
Prayer for Spiritual Communion
My Jesus, I believe that you are present in the most Blessed Sacrament. I love You above all things and I desire to receive You into my soul. Since I cannot now receive You sacramentally, come at least spiritually into my heart. I embrace You as if You were already there, and unite myself wholly to You. Never permit me to be separated from You. Amen.
“The Lord’s kindness is everlasting to those who fear him.”
Readings & Reflection
It is common for a parent to receive a compliment about their child from someone outside the family. The parents often think to themselves, “I wish he/she behaved that way at home!” Today’s gospel story is similar in the fact that those who know the human Jesus cannot see him for who he really is, his goodness, or accept his teaching. Instead they wonder, “Where did he get all of this?”; after all, they know from hence he came. He is the son of the carpenter. What could he possibly have to offer us?
This lesson reminds us that we must approach Jesus, and those around us, with open eyes, and open minds. We never know when Jesus will approach us through a fellow believer. Will we be able to see the action of Christ present before us? Do we even bother to look for Christ on a daily basis? The believer can only answer that question through reflection and prayer. We see Christ is able to heal a few sick people in our gospel story. We can only assume that their illness made them either desperate enough to look past who they know the man Jesus to be, or that through their desperation they had been able to see Jesus for who he really is, God made man, the one who wishes to unite himself to us. May we be like those sick people. May we desire healing in such a way as to be ready to receive Christ in any way he presents himself to us.
Peace,
Fr. John Kurgan
Readings for the Optional Memorial of Saint Blase, bishop and martyr
Read the story of Saint Blase
Readings for the Optional Memorial of Saint Ansgar, bishop
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