Tag: lectio divina

“They abandoned their nets.” | Third Sunday in Ordinary Time

Free lectio divina prayer guide: quarryapps.gumroad.com/l/jojqau

A reading from the holy Gospel according to Mark (Mk 3:20-21)

As he passed by the Sea of Galilee, he saw Simon and his brother Andrew casting their nets into the sea; they were fishermen. Jesus said to them, “Come after me, and I will make you fishers of men.” Then they abandoned their nets and followed him. He walked along a little farther and saw James, the son of Zebedee, and his brother John. They too were in a boat mending their nets. Then he called them. So they left their father Zebedee in the boat along with the hired men and followed him.

Jesus calls Simon and Andrew in the midst of their workday. They are in a boat, working for their sustenance and casting their nets into the sea. James and John, brothers in a family business, are mending their nets. In their livelihood, they are literally and figuratively in the same boat. When Jesus calls them, he refers to their occupation to make clear that what they have done as humble fisherman will be relevant to their work as disciples. Jesus invites them to get out of their boat and into his, not literally but figuratively, and they did. “They abandoned their nets and followed him.” Mark adds that Zebedee was not left to work alone but had hired men there to help him, a subtle suggestion that God takes care of all of the details when his invitation to follow is accepted. In the words of Christ, here is his invitation: “This is the time of fulfillment. The kingdom of God is at hand. Repent, and believe in the gospel.”

God, help me understand the depth of today’s Gospel, how it was that the first apostles abandoned their way of life to follow Jesus Christ your Son. There are levels of understanding in the reading, ways to approach it. What did it mean for each of the apostles to follow Christ? Where did it lead them? And then I might ask what it means to me to hear Christ’s invitation to follow, to fail to follow, repent, and try all over again through the sacrament of reconciliation. The rich young man who appears elsewhere in Mark, could not bring himself to do what humble fisherman accomplished: they abandoned their nets. Give me the grace to remain humble, to recognize that whatever I do for worldly gain means nothing if it prevents me from following you. Help me recognize, Lord, as Paul says, that time is running out and that “the world in its present form is passing away.” Lord, give me clarity and wisdom in hearing and responding to your call.

From the responsorial psalm: “Your ways, O LORD, make known to me; teach me your paths, Guide me in your truth and teach me, for you are God my savior. Teach me your ways, O Lord.”

Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit, as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.

“He is out of his mind.” | Saturday of the Second Week in Ordinary Time

A reading from the holy Gospel according to Mark (Mk 3:20-21)

Jesus came with his disciples into the house. Again the crowd gathered, making it impossible for them even to eat. When his relatives heard of this they set out to seize him, for they said, “He is out of his mind.”

In today’s short Gospel, Mark depicts the relentlessness of the crowds who came to Jesus for his word and for his healing. The ones who know and love him, who watched him grow and mature, plan to take control of the situation. They believe he has gone mad and fear for his well-being, reject his ministry, and hope to extract him from the people and restore his sanity. David’s reaction to Saul’s and Jonathan’s death, which we hear in the first reading, sheds light on Jesus’ response to the crowds surrounding him. “I grieve for you, Jonathan my brother! Most dear have you been to me; more precious have I held love for you than love for women.” This grief over Jonathan, Saul’s son, foreshadows and expresses Jesus’ extravagant love for his people, despite his ultimate suffering and death for their sake. Jesus, God made man, pities the people he was sent to save and rejects no one who comes to him. He feeds them with the bread of compassion and saves them as they look upon his face.

“Let us see your face, Lord, and we shall be saved.” God, help me dwell on these words today from the responsorial psalm. Let them remind me to seek you out during the day, to crowd around the doorway of your house, eager to see you and know your unconditional love. In turn, give me the grace to open the door for others who desire to see where you dwell and look upon your face. Deliver me from evil, Lord; let me receive your mercy and be merciful to others.

From the Gospel acclamation: “Open our hearts, O Lord, to listen to the words of your Son.”

Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit, as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.

“To preach and to have authority to drive out demons.” | Friday of the Second Week in Ordinary Time

“The Apostles” flickr photo by Lawrence OP https://flickr.com/photos/paullew/48247330176 shared under a Creative Commons (BY-NC-ND) license

A reading from the holy Gospel according to Mark (Mk 3:13-19)

Jesus went up the mountain and summoned those whom he wanted and they came to him. He appointed Twelve, whom he also named Apostles, that they might be with him and he might send them forth to preach and to have authority to drive out demons.

Mark names two reasons Jesus commissioned apostles: to preach and to drive out demons. The reasons seem, at first, to be limited. Of all things an apostle commissioned by Christ might do, Mark mentions only these two. Yet, countless times in the Gospel, the evangelists say that Jesus went throughout the region, preaching and driving out demons. With a word, himself the living Word, Jesus cast out unclean spirits. So in commissioning them to preach and drive out demons, Jesus gives unlimited authority to the Twelve to teach and heal as he taught and healed. The teaching and healing authority of Christ lives today in one, holy, catholic, and apostolic Church—Mother and Teacher—in apostolic succession, in proclaiming the Kingdom of God, and in the sacraments.

God, help me trust in the living succession of faith that Jesus Christ your Son established in commissioning the Twelve. They were the first to sit at the feet of Christ and hear and take in the Word. It’s miraculous that the deposit of faith has been transmitted unbroken from generation to generation. Give me the grace, Lord, to be humble and grateful in receiving your Word as it has been passed down from age to age. What is the truth about Jesus and the foundation of the Church? Glory to you, Lord, this is not shrouded in mystery and lost to the ages; truth is a person, present in the Mystical Body of Christ and boldly proclaimed in the Church.

From the Gospel acclamation: “God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation.”

Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit, as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.

“Jesus withdrew . . .” | Thursday of the Second Week in Ordinary Time

A reading from the holy Gospel according to Mark (Mk 3:7-12)

He had cured many and, as a result, those who had diseases were pressing upon him to touch him. And whenever unclean spirits saw him they would fall down before him and shout, “You are the Son of God.” He warned them sternly not to make him known.

The crowd following Jesus was so large—people from Jerusalem, Idumea, from beyond the Jordan, and from the neighborhood of Tyre and Sidon—that he asked the disciples to have a boat ready for him so that, as Mark tells us, “they would not crush him.” Among the crowd were those possessed by unclean spirits, who made known loudly that Jesus was the Son of God. Today’s Gospel begins with the words “Jesus withdrew.” He withdrew so that he could be with his Father in prayer and receive strength from the Holy Spirit to continue his mission. Healing and teaching throughout the region, Jesus perfectly accomplished the will of his Father and his time of fulfillment had not yet come, so he warned the people from whom he drove out demons not to make his divine identity known.

Father in heaven, I want to run in so many directions at the start of each day. Give me the grace to remember to return to you as I can throughout the day, even in brief moments, to withdraw to you in singlemindedness, and remain free from all distress. Then let me know your love and the strength of the Holy Spirit. Help me be an instrument of that love and strength to cure what I can with compassion and be on guard against the wickedness and snares of the devil. Grasp me by the hand today and keep me in your care. “In God I trust,” the psalmist says, “I shall not fear.”

From the Gospel acclamation: “Our Savior Jesus Christ has destroyed death and brought life to light through the Gospel.”

Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit, as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.

“Stretch out your hand.”| Memorial of Saint Anthony, Abbot

A reading from the holy Gospel according to Mark (Mk 3:1-6)

He said to the man with the withered hand, “Come up here before us.” Then he said to the Pharisees, “Is it lawful to do good on the sabbath rather than to do evil, to save life rather than to destroy it?” But they remained silent. Looking around at them with anger and grieved at their hardness of heart, Jesus said to the man, “Stretch out your hand.” He stretched it out and his hand was restored. The Pharisees went out and immediately took counsel with the Herodians against him to put him to death.

As Jesus encounters a man in the synagogue with a withered hand, the Pharisees watch closely, waiting to see if Jesus will cure on the sabbath. In response to the Pharisees’s question “Is it lawful to do good on the sabbath?” they remain silent. Jesus asks the man to stretch out his hand, and he cures him immediately. Mark tells us that the Pharisees “took counsel with the Herodians against him to put him to death.” In perfect observance of the will of the Father, Jesus accomplishes the work he was sent to do, a model of courage and compassion over legalistic adherence.

God, help me in the spiritual battles of this day, which are certain to come. Two prayers come to mind that will aid me when, by your grace, I need you to deliver me in the midst of struggle: the prayer to Saint Michael the Archangel and today’s Psalm. “St. Michael the Archangel, defend us in battle, be our protection against the wickedness and snares of the devil. . . .” From Psalm 144: “Blessed be the LORD, my rock, who trains my hands for battle, my fingers for war. My refuge and my fortress, my stronghold, my deliverer, my shield, in whom I trust, who subdues my people under me. Blessed be the Lord, my Rock!”

From the Gospel acclamation: “Jesus preached the Gospel of the Kingdom and cured every disease among the people.” Lord, help me know your will for me today and give me strength to be bold in accomplishing it!

Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit, as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.

“Not as man sees does God see.” | Tuesday of the Second Week in Ordinary Time

A reading from the holy Gospel according to Mark (Mk 2:23-28)

He said to them, “Have you never read what David did when he was in need and he and his companions were hungry? How he went into the house of God when Abiathar was high priest and ate the bread of offering that only the priests could lawfully eat, and shared it with his companions?” Then he said to them, “The sabbath was made for man, not man for the sabbath. That is why the Son of Man is lord even of the sabbath.”

The Pharisees see the disciples of Jesus making a path through a field of grain as they pluck the heads of grain, eating them. The Pharisees say to Jesus: “Look, why are they doing what is unlawful on the sabbath?” In replying to them, Jesus mentions bread, the daily bread that sustains and nourishes the human body. But in relating the story about David sharing the consecrated bread of offering with his companions, he alludes to bread broken and shared, to bread that prepares us for eternal life, to the Eucharistic banquet he would institute at the Last Supper. In addressing the rigidity of unlawful actions done on the sabbath, Jesus reclaims its purpose through his divine authority as the Son of God: “That is why the Son of Man is lord even of the sabbath.”

God, help me see as you see, beyond appearances and superficial understanding. The things of this world provide limited access to what is really true. In your words spoken to Samuel: “Not as man sees does God see, because he sees the appearance but the LORD looks into the heart.” You do not judge by appearances, Lord, but know me because you know my heart. For the sake of your people, you made the sabbath not as a means to restrict needs but to provide for spiritual and physical well-being. In work and relaxation, help me recall the words of Jesus throughout the day: “The sabbath was made for man, not man for the sabbath.” Give us this day our daily bread.

From the Gospel acclamation: “May the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ enlighten the eyes of our hearts, that we may know what is the hope that belongs to our call.”

Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit, as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.

“Then they will fast on that day.” | Monday of the Second Week in Ordinary Time

Photo by Vignesh Moorthy on Unsplash

A reading from the holy Gospel according to Mark (Mk 2:18-22)

The disciples of John and of the Pharisees were accustomed to fast. People came to Jesus and objected, “Why do the disciples of John and the disciples of the Pharisees fast, but your disciples do not fast?” Jesus answered them, “Can the wedding guests fast while the bridegroom is with them? As long as they have the bridegroom with them they cannot fast. But the days will come when the bridegroom is taken away from them, and then they will fast on that day.

Jesus goes on to compare his time on earth as the bridegroom, present among the disciples, with other examples. He compares his teachings to new cloth sewn onto old clothing and new wine poured into old wineskins. The new cloth will shrink and tear an old garment, and new wine will burst old wineskins. Instead, Jesus says, new cloth should be sewn onto new garments, and new wine should be poured into new wineskins. Jesus brings about a newness through his presence and teachings that requires a change of customs and practices. He calls people to step away from adherence to brittle old religious practices and into supple, heartfelt praise that gives God due glory.

God, in this new year, help me recognize the areas within me that are brittle and serve no genuine purpose. Give me the grace to understand that fear overcome frees me to find you anew in desiring to remain in your word, wherever that leads. Every day, new obstacles to long-term goals emerge that seem to be insurmountable. They seem at times to eclipse you. Help me see beyond that—that the earthly goal is subject to your will. In obedience to your will, help me see past obstacles and go straight to you, to listen to your word and give you praise. You are God and I am not—all glory to you, Lord.

From the Gospel acclamation: “The word of God is living and effective, able to discern reflections and thoughts of the heart.”

Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit, as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.

“Where are you staying?” | Second Sunday in Ordinary Time

A reading from the holy Gospel according to John (Jn 1:35-42)

“Behold the Lamb of God” flickr photo by Lawrence OP https://flickr.com/photos/paullew/39681315841 shared under a Creative Commons (BY-NC-ND) license

John was standing with two of his disciples, and as he watched Jesus walk by, he said, “Behold, the Lamb of God.” The two disciples heard what he said and followed Jesus. Jesus turned and saw them following him and said to them, “What are you looking for?” They said to him, “Rabbi”— which translated means Teacher —, “where are you staying?” He said to them, “Come, and you will see.”

Jesus asks the two disciples of John what they are looking for. In looking for the Messiah, they find Jesus. In finding Jesus, they ask an unusual question: “Where are you staying?” Jesus invites them to come with him. Andrew and another disciple spend the day with Jesus. Filled with excitement, Andrew goes to find his brother Simon and tell him that they have found the Messiah. The passage begins when John the Baptist watches Jesus walk by and says, “Behold, the Lamb of God.” In looking out for the Messiah, the disciples are prepared to understand the meaning of Jesus’ question and respond with their own question. The answer, they come to learn, is that the Lamb of God is the Son who comes down from heaven but stays with his Father.

God, help me understand the connection between Jesus, Lamb of God, and Saint Paul’s preaching that the body is a temple of the Holy Spirit. Jesus came as the sacrificial lamb and knew death of the body for the sake of all people. In rising, he made possible baptism in the Holy Sprit, in which we die to self and rise to new life in Christ. Paul makes clear that we have been purchased at a price so that we may be a temple of the Holy Spirit and that we are not our own. “The body is not for immorality, but for the Lord, and the Lord is for the body; God raised the Lord and will also raise us by his power,” Paul says. Lord, you offer us the same resurrection as Jesus your Son. In one spirit with you, the body given up is saved for eternal life. “Therefore, glorify God in your body.”

From the responsorial psalm: “I have waited, waited for the LORD, and he stooped toward me and heard my cry. And he put a new song into my mouth, a hymn to our God.”

Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit, as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.

“Follow me.” | Saturday of the First Week in Ordinary Time

“The Call of St Matthew” flickr photo by Lawrence OP https://flickr.com/photos/paullew/29832494395 shared under a Creative Commons (BY-NC-ND) license

A reading from the holy Gospel according to Mark (Mk 2:13-17)

Some scribes who were Pharisees saw that Jesus was eating with sinners and tax collectors and said to his disciples, “Why does he eat with tax collectors and sinners?” Jesus heard this and said to them, “Those who are well do not need a physician, but the sick do. I did not come to call the righteous but sinners.”

About the people who follow Jesus, Mark tells us: “many tax collectors and sinners sat with Jesus and his disciples.” On seeing Levi, a tax collector commonly identified as the evangelist Matthew, Jesus invites him to come dine with him with the other disciples. Teaching those who accept his invitation—”Follow me.”—Jesus teaches and heals. Whether they respond, Jesus’ answer to the Pharisees is a quiet, insistent invitation for all people to receive forgiveness and healing from the Divine Physician.

God, just as Samuel anointed Saul to lead and free the Israelites, you sent Jesus Christ your Son to liberate your people from the bondage of sin. “Follow me,” Jesus says. Let that invitation to conversion remain in my heart and mind when I know I need his help but especially when I fail to come to that realization. With a contrite heart, give me the grace to receive healing from the Divine Physician, whose mercy and forgiveness frees me to live in the light of his salvation. Grasp me by the hand, Lord; let me hear your call and know how to respond when I hear you say, “Follow me.”

From the responsorial psalm: “The Lord sent me to bring glad tidings to the poor and to proclaim liberty to captives.” Saint Hilary of Poitiers, pray for us!

Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit, as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.

“We have never seen anything like this.” | Friday of the First Week in Ordinary Time

A reading from the holy Gospel according to Mark (Mk 2:1-12)

Jesus immediately knew in his mind what they were thinking to themselves, so he said, “Why are you thinking such things in your hearts? Which is easier, to say to the paralytic, ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or to say, ‘Rise, pick up your mat and walk’? But that you may know that the Son of Man has authority to forgive sins on earth”–he said to the paralytic, “I say to you, rise, pick up your mat, and go home.” He rose, picked up his mat at once, and went away in the sight of everyone. They were all astounded and glorified God, saying, “We have never seen anything like this.”

In Mark’s account of the paralytic being lowered through the roof, faith is central in understanding the actions of the friends who brought the paralytic to Jesus. Whether by the paralytic’s prompting or by the insistence of his friends, the man is brought before Jesus because of their faith. As Jesus heals the man, the necessity of faith is evident to all onlookers who come to see Jesus, including the scribes who accuse Jesus of blasphemy in saying to the man, “Child, your sins are forgiven.” As the man picks up his mat and goes home, the people are astounded and glorify God. In his words and actions, Jesus gives glory to his Father; in picking up his mat and walking home, the paralytic is living proof of Jesus’ authority, both to heal and to forgive sins. The people who witness this are amazed, and themselves begin to recognize that in returning home, Jesus demonstrates that he is not only the ordinary son of Joseph and Mary but one whose extraordinary power is from God alone.

God, help me witness you at work in the world today and give me an opportunity to be a witness to those whose lives I touch. I can see it play out so that neither of these happens. For this reason, I ask in faith for your divine assistance; where belief is lacking, help my unbelief. If only it were easy to draw comparisons between the paralytic and the rigidity of my own brokenness and hold that thought. But, Lord, I tend to forget you during the day, so I ask for your aid when even easy comparisons fail to come to mind. In Capernaum, so many came to hear Jesus your Son that there was no room for them. “And he preached the word to them,” Mark says. Help me to hear your word today, take it in, and give glory to you in witnessing to my faith.

From the responsorial psalm: “A great prophet has arisen in our midst and God has visited his people.” Lord, visit me today; heal me and make me whole.

Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit, as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.