2012년 2월 1일 연중 제4주간 수요일
제1독서
사무엘기 하. 24,2.9-17
그 무렵 2 다윗은 자기가 데리고 있는 군대의 장수 요압에게 말하였다. “단에서 브에르 세바에 이르기까지 이스라엘의 모든 지파를 두루 다니며 인구를 조사하시오. 내가 백성의 수를 알고자 하오.” 9 요압이 조사한 백성의 수를 임금에게 보고하였는데, 이스라엘에서 칼을 다룰 수 있는 장정이 팔십만 명, 유다에서 오십만 명이었다.
10 다윗은 이렇게 인구 조사를 한 다음, 양심에 가책을 느껴 주님께 말씀드렸다. “제가 이런 짓으로 큰 죄를 지었습니다. 그러나 주님, 이제 당신 종의 죄악을 없애 주십시오. 제가 참으로 어리석은 일을 저질렀습니다.” 11 이튿날 아침 다윗이 일어났을 때, 주님의 말씀이 다윗의 환시가인 가드 예언자에게 내렸다. 12 “다윗에게 가서 ‘주님께서 이렇게 말씀하십니다.’ 하면서 일러라. ‘내가 너에게 세 가지를 내놓을 터이니, 그 가운데에서 하나를 골라라. 그러면 내가 너에게 그대로 해 주겠다.’”
13 가드가 다윗에게 가서 이렇게 알렸다. “임금님 나라에 일곱 해 동안 기근이 드는 것이 좋습니까? 아니면, 임금님을 뒤쫓는 적들을 피하여 석 달 동안 도망다니시는 것이 좋습니까? 아니면, 임금님 나라에 사흘 동안 흑사병이 퍼지는 것이 좋습니까? 저를 보내신 분께 무엇이라고 회답해야 할지 지금 잘 생각하여 결정하시기 바랍니다.” 14 그러자 다윗이 가드에게 말하였다. “괴롭기 그지없구려. 그러나 주님의 자비는 크시니, 사람 손에 당하는 것보다 주님 손에 당하는 것이 낫겠소.”
15 그리하여 주님께서 그날 아침부터 정해진 날까지 이스라엘에 흑사병을 내리시니, 단에서 브에르 세바까지 백성 가운데에서 칠만 명이 죽었다.
16 천사가 예루살렘을 파멸시키려고 그쪽으로 손을 뻗치자, 주님께서 재앙을 내리신 것을 후회하시고 백성을 파멸시키는 천사에게 이르셨다. “이제 됐다. 손을 거두어라.” 그때에 주님의 천사는 여부스 사람 아라우나의 타작마당에 있었다.
17 백성을 치는 천사를 보고, 다윗이 주님께 아뢰었다. “제가 바로 죄를 지었습니다. 제가 못된 짓을 하였습니다. 그러나 이 양들이야 무슨 잘못이 있습니까? 그러니 제발 당신 손으로 저와 제 아버지의 집안을 쳐 주십시오.”
복음
마르코. 6,1-6
그때에 1 예수님께서 고향으로 가셨는데 제자들도 그분을 따라갔다. 2 안식일이 되자 예수님께서는 회당에서 가르치기 시작하셨다. 많은 이가 듣고는 놀라서 이렇게 말하였다. “저 사람이 어디서 저 모든 것을 얻었을까? 저런 지혜를 어디서 받았을까? 그의 손에서 저런 기적들이 일어나다니! 3 저 사람은 목수로서 마리아의 아들이며, 야고보, 요세, 유다, 시몬과 형제간이 아닌가? 그의 누이들도 우리와 함께 여기에 살고 있지 않는가?” 그러면서 그들은 그분을 못마땅하게 여겼다.
4 그러자 예수님께서 그들에게 이르셨다. “예언자는 어디에서나 존경받지만 고향과 친척과 집안에서만은 존경받지 못한다.” 5 그리하여 예수님께서는 그곳에서 몇몇 병자에게 손을 얹어서 병을 고쳐 주시는 것밖에는 아무런 기적도 일으키실 수 없었다. 6 그리고 그들이 믿지 않는 것에 놀라셨다. 예수님께서는 여러 마을을 두루 돌아다니며 가르치셨다.
http://www.usccb.org/nab/
http://www.usccb.org/bible/reflections/
February 1, 2012
Wednesday of the Fourth Week in Ordinary Time
Reading 1
King David said to Joab and the leaders of the army who were with him,
Tour all the tribes in Israel from Dan to Beer-sheba
and register the people, that I may know their number.
Joab then reported to the king the number of people registered:
in Israel, eight hundred thousand men fit for military service;
in Judah, five hundred thousand.
Afterward, however, David regretted having numbered the people,
and said to the LORD:
I have sinned grievously in what I have done.
But now, LORD, forgive the guilt of your servant,
for I have been very foolish.
When David rose in the morning,
the LORD had spoken to the prophet Gad, David's seer, saying:
"Go and say to David, 'This is what the LORD says:
I offer you three alternatives;
choose one of them, and I will inflict it on you.'"
Gad then went to David to inform him.
He asked: "Do you want a three years' famine to come upon your land,
or to flee from your enemy three months while he pursues you,
or to have a three days' pestilence in your land?
Now consider and decide what I must reply to him who sent me."
David answered Gad: "I am in very serious difficulty.
Let us fall by the hand of God, for he is most merciful;
but let me not fall by the hand of man."
Thus David chose the pestilence.
Now it was the time of the wheat harvest
when the plague broke out among the people.
The LORD then sent a pestilence over Israel
from morning until the time appointed,
and seventy thousand of the people from Dan to Beer-sheba died.
But when the angel stretched forth his hand toward Jerusalem to destroy it,
the LORD regretted the calamity
and said to the angel causing the destruction among the people,
"Enough now! Stay your hand."
The angel of the LORD was then standing
at the threshing floor of Araunah the Jebusite.
When David saw the angel who was striking the people,
he said to the LORD: "It is I who have sinned;
it is I, the shepherd, who have done wrong.
But these are sheep; what have they done?
Punish me and my kindred."
Responsorial Psalm
R. (see 5c) Lord, forgive the wrong I have done.
Blessed is he whose fault is taken away,
whose sin is covered.
Blessed the man to whom the LORD imputes not guilt,
in whose spirit there is no guile.
R. Lord, forgive the wrong I have done.
Then I acknowledged my sin to you,
my guilt I covered not.
I said, "I confess my faults to the LORD,"
and you took away the guilt of my sin.
R. Lord, forgive the wrong I have done.
For this shall every faithful man pray to you
in time of stress.
Though deep waters overflow,
they shall not reach him.
R. Lord, forgive the wrong I have done.
You are my shelter; from distress you will preserve me;
with glad cries of freedom you will ring me round.
R. Lord, forgive the wrong I have done.
Gospel
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
http://www.staygreat.com/
http://www.franciscanretreats.net/
Even though the word “rejection” is not used explicitly in our Gospel chosen to be read today, the idea of the people rejecting Jesus is certainly present, as it is in many other places in Scripture. The Greek word for “reject” is atheteo which means despise, cast aside, spurn. The word “reject” comes from the Latin re-jacere which means literally to throw again, to throw back (in the sense of catching a fish that is too small and throwing it back again into the water.), to repulse, to refuse to accept. Jesus shows his awareness of this rejection by quoting Psalm 118: 22 in Matthew 21:42: “Jesus said to them, “Did you never read the Scriptures: The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone; by the Lord this has been done, and it is wonderful in our eyes?”
This rejection of Jesus is unfortunately still going on today. And people who reject Jesus and his values are also rejecting their true happiness, joy and peace that come only from him. They reject being lifted, raised above the usual human standards and ways.
What are some of the reasons for rejection? Why do we reject Jesus and other people too? One of the main reasons I see is because those we reject are different from us in one way or another. I had a developmentally handicapped brother who was rejected by many people. He had the mentality of a four year old. He was different and those who rejected him never discovered that he was a truly beautiful, wonderful and precious person. The loss was theirs; not my brother’s. Just like the loss is ours, not Jesus’, when we reject him. We also reject others because we are jealous of them, envious of them. They are too good for us, as it were. But this is just another way of their being different from us, and again the loss is ours.
Today’s Gospel causes me to look around and see if I am rejecting anyone now (and if I am, I am at the same time rejecting Christ). Why is this happening? Why am I harming myself in this way? What can I do to remedy the situation?
http://www.evangeli.net/gospel/gospel.html
http://www.creighton.edu/CollaborativeMinistry/daily.html
Today’s reading from Samuel portrays a difficult time in which King David went against the advice of his trusted friend, Joab, who had warned him against taking the census. David stubbornly persisted, only to regret it later. Commentators on these verses connect them to 1 Samuel 8 (in the lectionary for January 13), in which the people demanded a king from Samuel. Samuel warned them what being ruled by a king would mean to them, including loss of their property and their freedom, but the people said “No! There must be a king over us!” (1 Sam 8:19).
So they got what they asked for – but it was not at all what they had longed for. The same thing seems to happen to David when he takes the census. Numbering the people would facilitate those oppressive things that Samuel had warned about from the wrong kind of kingship. Eventually David saw this and repented.
Getting what we ask for but not what we long for is all too common for us humans. We all act like David sometimes, pursuing our own ends without listening to cautionary signals from those close to us. Our single-minded pursuit may result in “success”, but that comes at a price. David also gives us a good example, which follows his bad example: he goes to God with humility and admits his error. How difficult that seems to be for us, when rationalizing and blaming others seems so much more to our liking!
Today’s psalm brings us hope: “For this shall every faithful man pray to you in time of stress. Though deep waters overflow, they shall not reach him.” Tough times come and hope buoys us up when we trust our Heavenly Father, who is full of mercy. We can take comfort that if he welcomed back our prodigal brother, we can come back, too. Thanks be to God!
Rationalizing and blaming seems to be the mode of operation for Jesus’ audience in today’s gospel. Though they were “astonished” at Jesus’ teaching, they chose to push it away. Maybe it did sting a little, or they would not have been so offended. Jesus was “amazed at their lack of faith” – sometimes those who are close to us can disappoint. Though Jesus repeats ancient wisdom about a prophet’s honor in his own country, perhaps it disappointed him all the more to see his own kin and neighbors dismiss his words.
Jesus did not perform any “mighty deed” there, other than healing a few sick. I imagine those who were healed were grateful for the miracles. Would those miracles soften some hearts? We can hope and pray that such softening can occur, even in the midst of our own generation that actually seems a lot like this audience – skeptical, stubborn, looking for faults to bring others down so that somehow we can lift ourselves up. And we who welcome Jesus can also seek a softening of our own hearts, too, so that we may receive the Word and allow it to bear fruit. Amen.
http://www.rc.net/wcc/readings/
They took offense at Jesus and he marveled because of their unbelief
Are you critical towards others, especially those who may be close to you? The most severe critics are often people very familiar to us, a member of our family, a relative, or neighbor or co-worker we rub shoulders with on a regular basis. Jesus faced a severe testing when he returned to his home town, not simply as the carpenter's son, but now as a rabbi with disciples. It would have been customary for Jesus to go to the synagogue each week during the Sabbath, and when his turn came, to read from the scriptures during the Sabbath service. His hometown folks listened with rapt attention on this occasion because they had heard about the miracles he had performed in other towns. What sign would he do in his hometown?
Jesus startled his familiar audience with a seeming rebuke that no prophet or servant of God can receive honor among his own people. The people of Nazareth took offense at Jesus and refused to listen to what he had to say. They despised his preaching because he was a mere workman, a carpenter, and a layman who had no formal training by a scholar or teacher. They also despised him because of his undistinguished family background. How familiarity can breed contempt. Jesus could do no mighty works in their midst because they were closed-minded and unbelieving towards him. If people have come together to hate and to refuse to understand, then they will see no other point of view than their own and they will refuse to love and accept others. How do you treat those who seem disagreeable to you?
The word "gospel" literally means "good news". Isaiah had prophesied that the Messiah would come in the power of the Holy Spirit to bring freedom to the afflicted who suffered from physical, mental, or spiritual oppression (see Isaiah 61:1-2). Jesus came to set people free – not only from their physical, mental, and spiritual infirmities - but also from the worst affliction of all – the tyranny of slavery to sin, Satan, and the fear of losing one's life. God's power alone can save us from hopelessness, dejection, and emptiness of life. The gospel of salvation is "good news" for everyone who will receive it. Do you know the joy and freedom of the gospel?
"Lord Jesus, you are the fulfillment of all our hopes and desires. Your Spirit brings grace, truth, freedom, and abundant life. Set my heart on fire with your love and truth."
Psalm 103:1-2,13-14,17-18
1 Bless the LORD, O my soul; and all that is within me, bless his holy name!
2 Bless the LORD, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits,
13 As a father pities his children, so the LORD pities those who fear him.
14 For he knows our frame; he remembers that we are dust.
17 But the steadfast love of the LORD is from everlasting to everlasting upon those who fear him, and his righteousness to children's children,
18 to those who keep his covenant and remember to do his commandments.
http://www.daily-meditations.org/index2.html
http://www.contemplative.com/weekday_readings.htm
The people in Nazareth nit-pick at Jesus. They verbally ruminate in circles about Jesus, moving farther and farther from him, and don't center into the point of who he is. Jesus is given to and, "He spent his time teaching." The Word is present, but they continue in their noise and will not enter into the silence in order to hear the words that come from the Word among them. They never gave faith a chance. This distressed Jesus. Our contemplative prayer in our silence is to receive the teaching that is Jesus. The silence of true Catholic mysticism is not a void or emptiness or perpetual night. The silence is only the opening of the door of the heart to receive the light of the Word.teaching: "he began to teach in the synagogue in a way that kept his large audience amazed"
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“They took offence at him.” What was his offence? His background was the same as theirs; he was just like them: “Is not this the carpenter?” But he had not remained in the role the village had assigned to him. Villages can be intensely conservative places. The word ‘conservative’ is in itself a good word: to conserve is to keep intact, to guard. But everything depends on what one is trying to conserve: the best or the worst. Because of the human capacity for self-deceit, we can use a fine word to make something mean look good. In the reaction of the villagers to Jesus we see a resentful village mentality.
The smaller the society, the more controlling this narrow spirit. “Beneath the charm of the rural town or village, there often lurks a lethal intolerance.” Nazareth was such a place. People who have known you all your life see you as the child you were, even when you are a middle-aged man or woman. They see where you came from and they remember all your youthful mistakes. They also want to make sure you are not getting above yourself; “who does he think he is?” This is a sort of envy, or perhaps something more primitive: a tribal spirit. It tries to destroy you, or at least to discredit you, if you are not just like everyone else.
So we are safe if we don’t live in villages? Unfortunately no. A whole section of society, or even a whole society, can lock itself into a village mentality. Listen for the worst accents of the village in some television programmes; look for them in the gossipy printed media. There we can see, for better and for worse alike, the global village.
The terrible fact is that it works. It tied Jesus's hands: “he could work no miracles there” (v.5). It is a frightful thought that we have the ability to prevent miracles. The villagers wanted to keep him within his limitations: he was a carpenter and the son of a carpenter. But elsewhere the gospel says “he broke through their midst and went his way” (Lk 4:30). We have to break through the midst of many things in order to become adult Christians. Many people, even in the Church, will try to keep us in a pre-adult state. Yes, Jesus said we must be like children: we must have their qualities of simplicity, honesty, freshness…. “Like children,” he said. We must be adults who are like children, not children who are like adults.
http://www.presentationministries.com/