Home Bible 1 Corinthians CATHOLIC MASS: 5th Sunday in Ordinary Time 2.8.15 – TV Video, Links, Scripture

CATHOLIC MASS: 5th Sunday in Ordinary Time 2.8.15 – TV Video, Links, Scripture

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Bible-200“Simon and those who were with him … on finding Him said, ‘Everyone is looking for You.’ He told them, ‘Let us go on to the nearby villages that I may preach there also. For this purpose have I come.’ So He went into their synagogues, preaching and driving out demons throughout the whole of Galilee.”

 

Mass Readings 2.8.15 – FIRST READING: Job 7:1-4, 6-7 – PSALM 147:1-2, 3-4, 5-6 – SECOND READING: 1 Corinthians 9:16-19, 22-23 – GOSPEL: Mark 1:29-39 – Find a Mass: MassTimes.org – Find a Mass: TheCatholicDirectory.com

 

 

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GOSPEL

GOSPEL: Mark 1:29-39

Jesus heals Simon Peter’s mother-in-law of a fever.

… Jesus entered the house of Simon and Andrew with James and John. Simon’s mother-in-law lay sick with a fever. … He approached, grasped her hand, and helped her up. Then the fever left her and she waited on them.

As the entire town stands by, drawn to Christ, Jesus heals the sick and casts out demons.

… they brought to Him all who were ill or possessed by demons. The whole town was gathered at the door. He cured many who were sick with various diseases, and He drove out many demons, not permitting them to speak because they knew Him.

Note that when they find out about Jesus and how He can help them, the people are drawn to Him, and bring those in the grip of evil or disease. Are we similarly disposed to seek out Christ? Do we admit how He can help us, and go to Him, and bring others to Him for help?

Jesus rises before dawn and prays in a deserted place.

Rising very early before dawn, He left and went off to a deserted place, where He prayed.

Do we follow Christ’s Divine Example? Do we periodically free ourselves from the chaos and distraction of our routine or our usual earthly surroundings, to seek out the quiet of prayer and seek out the fuller life of a communion with God? And what is Jesus praying for? For example, is He beseeching the Father for certain intentions, or is He seeking to Unite Himself always fully with the Father’s Will?

Everyone is seeking Jesus. When Simon Peter and the others find Him, Jesus returns to the population center and carries out His Ministry of preaching the Gospel and driving out demons.

Simon and those who were with him pursued Him and on finding Him said, ‘Everyone is looking for You.’ He told them, ‘Let us go on to the nearby villages that I may preach there also. For this purpose have I come.’ So He went into their synagogues, preaching and driving out demons throughout the whole of Galilee.

RESPONSORIAL PSALM

PSALM 147:1-2, 3-4, 5-6

Praise the Lord, who heals the brokenhearted.

FIRST READING

FIRST READING: Job 7:1-4, 6-7

Job endures his unforeseen suffering but bemoans it.

Job spoke, saying: Is not man’s life on earth a drudgery? … I have been assigned months of misery, and troubled nights have been allotted to me. … the night drags on; I am filled with restlessness until the dawn. My days are swifter than a weaver’s shuttle; they come to an end without hope. Remember that my life is like the wind. …

Not yet visited directly by God, Job searches for hope. As yet lacking sufficient Grace and wisdom to look beyond the confines of his current trials, he makes the mistake of thinking that his suffering is the full extent of what is possible for him at present.

We recall, however, that the whole precursor of Job’s suffering was the devil seeking to attack Job, attempting to turn Job away from God. It was evil that sought to put Job to the test, to test his fidelity and love of God.

Job does persevere in his faith and love of God. Yet he seeks to intellectualize what is going on, and he struggles to sustain his holy confidence to rise above his trials.

Later, of course, God will visit Job and encourage humility before God and Bless Job with earthly blessings again.

SECOND READING

SECOND READING: 1 Corinthians 7:32-35

Saint Paul confesses that his preaching of the Gospel carries out his obligation to do so.

… If I preach the Gospel, this is no reason for me to boast, for an obligation has been imposed on me, and woe to me if I do not preach it! If I do so willingly, I have a recompense, but if unwillingly, then I have been entrusted with a stewardship. What then is my recompense? That, when I preach, I offer the gospel free of charge so as not to make full use of my right in the gospel.

As much as we should honor and appreciate Saints and good people, we should recall that being holy and carrying out God’s Will, including His Mission for us, is essentially normal.

It may seem different or new, compared with a life of sin that one has grown used to, or compared with an imperfect earthly way of doing things. Yet it is simply what we are to do, to live fully and accept God’s Invitation to Eternal Life.

At the same time, we note that Paul offers his preaching free of charge.

Recall that, when Paul refers to preaching the Gospel, or when Christ refers to preaching the Gospel, they are not referring directly to the written Gospels in the Bible. This epistle, for example, was written as a letter years before the Gospels were written down.

So with Jesus and with Paul, we have references to preaching the Gospel that have a broader view of Gospel as the Good News of Christ, the teachings of Christ and the Faith generally, which we confess is also communicated in the written Gospels, to whatever extent with regard to the scope and range of the written texts.

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