February 17
Thursday of the Sixth Week in Ordinary Time
Give a Mass Offering
Mass Intentions
7:45 AM – Parishioners of Holy Cross
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.
Readings
First Reading
James 2:1-9
My brothers and sisters, show no partiality
as you adhere to the faith in our glorious Lord Jesus Christ.
For if a man with gold rings and fine clothes
comes into your assembly,
and a poor person with shabby clothes also comes in,
and you pay attention to the one wearing the fine clothes
and say, “Sit here, please,”
while you say to the poor one, “Stand there,” or “Sit at my feet,”
have you not made distinctions among yourselves
and become judges with evil designs?
Listen, my beloved brothers and sisters. Did not God choose those who are poor in the world to be rich in faith and heirs of the Kingdom that he promised to those who love him? But you dishonored the poor. Are not the rich oppressing you? And do they themselves not haul you off to court? Is it not they who blaspheme the noble name that was invoked over you? However, if you fulfill the royal law according to the Scripture, You shall love your neighbor as yourself, you are doing well. But if you show partiality, you commit sin, and are convicted by the law as transgressors.
Responsorial Psalm
Psalms 34:2-3, 4-5, 6-7
R. (7a) The Lord hears the cry of the poor.
I will bless the LORD at all times;
his praise shall be ever in my mouth.
Let my soul glory in the LORD;
the lowly will hear me and be glad.
R. The Lord hears the cry of the poor.
Glorify the LORD with me,
let us together extol his name.
I sought the LORD, and he answered me
and delivered me from all my fears.
R. The Lord hears the cry of the poor.
Look to him that you may be radiant with joy,
and your faces may not blush with shame.
When the poor one called out, the LORD heard,
and from all his distress he saved him.
R. The Lord hears the cry of the poor.
Gospel Acclamation
See John 6:63c, 68c
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
Your words, Lord, are Spirit and life;
you have the words of everlasting life.
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
Gospel
Mark 8:27-33
Jesus and his disciples set out for the villages of Caesarea Philippi. Along the way he asked his disciples, “Who do people say that I am?” They said in reply, “John the Baptist, others Elijah, still others one of the prophets.” And he asked them, “But who do you say that I am?” Peter said to him in reply, “You are the Christ.” Then he warned them not to tell anyone about him.
He began to teach them that the Son of Man must suffer greatly and be rejected by the elders, the chief priests, and the scribes, and be killed, and rise after three days. He spoke this openly. Then Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him. At this he turned around and, looking at his disciples, rebuked Peter and said, “Get behind me, Satan. You are thinking not as God does, but as human beings do.”
“The Lord hears the cry of the poor.”
Reflection
Today we get a sense of how differently we need to think about the Kingdom of God than we do about the world. In the world we see judgment about how people are treated if they are rich or poor. Those who dress in fine clothes are given places of honor among us, and what they tell us is given great importance. While poor people whose clothes are not so fine are shunted to the sides of a gathering and what they have to say is discounted. What James is telling us is that we should not see others in a judgmental way, but in the way that God sees all of us–as children who have value, who are capable of great love and positive action, regardless of how they are dressed or how much money they have.
In our gospel, Peter is guilty of thinking in a decidedly un-Godly way. When Jesus shares what is going to happen to him in the future, including the part where he rises after three days, Peter does not focus on the miraculous resurrection, he focuses on the rejection and death that is perpetrated by the scribes, the elders, and the chief priests. Peter’s first response is to protect Jesus by rebuking him and his plan. But Peter is only focused on the part of the plan where Jesus is gone for a time. He can’t conceive of living without Jesus for even a few days. The flaw in his thinking is in not recognizing that Jesus must be killed in order to rise on the third day. This miraculous resurrection is the basis of God’s plan and the central theme of our faith. We can certainly understand how Peter does not want Jesus to suffer and die, but if that suffering and death is the only way that eternal life can be obtained, then it must be allowed to happen. Let us all trust in God’s plan for our lives and have faith that Jesus is at work helping us to seek the things of God rather than those of the world.
Peace of Christ,
Deacon Dare
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