Tag: sabbath

Day of Prayer for the Legal Protection of Unborn Children

From the Gospel acclamation: “Jesus preached the Gospel of the Kingdom and cured every disease among the people.”

A reading from the holy Gospel according to Mark (Mark 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.

In the synagogue on the sabbath, the Pharisees watch Jesus closely in order to trap him. Without saying a word, the Pharisees speak from their heart, but the words of Jesus silence them, just as he commands unclean spirits to be silent. Mark tells us that Jesus looked around at the Pharisees with anger and was grieved at their hardness of heart. After the silence, Jesus says one more thing: “Stretch out your hand.” In the stillness that follows, Jesus restores the man’s withered hand. The Pharisees sought a way to take the life of Jesus, stretching out their hand to the Herodians and hearing a legion of voices tell them that by destroying the Prince of Peace, peace will be restored. In the midst of the day, will we take time in silence to seek healing from the Lord, to hear the voice of Jesus say, “Stretch out your hand”?

God, help me reflect on these words of Jesus on this day of prayer for the legal protection of unborn children. Just as he spoke in tenderness to the man with the withered hand, he speaks to everyone who calls on his name and seeks to be restored to you through the power of the Holy Spirit. “Stretch out your hand,” Jesus says, inviting us once again to be restored to the divine mercy of his Father—our Father—and the promise of eternal life as your children.

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.

“The sabbath was made for man.” | Memorial of Saint Agnes, Virgin and Martyr

From the responsorial psalm: “He has sent deliverance to his people; he has ratified his covenant forever; holy and awesome is his name. His praise endures forever. The Lord will remember his covenant for ever.”

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

At this the Pharisees said to him, “Look, why are they doing what is unlawful on the sabbath?” He said to them, “Have you never read what David did when he was in need and he and his companions were hungry?”

Jesus responds to the Pharisees who question the disciples of Jesus as they pick the heads of grain on the sabbath. The tension between the interpretation of the law that Jesus offers them and their own strict interpretation centers on their claim that it is unlawful to work on the sabbath. Jesus answers their question with a question, drawing on an example from David and his companions. Jesus goes on with a divine interpretation of the sabbath, one that reveals it not in rigid, legalistic framing but as a gift from God meant for the people. He says 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.”

God, let me see the gift you give me today in choosing to serve you in complete freedom. When I hear Jesus say, “Have you never read. . . ,” I hear a kind of exasperation with the constant questioning and strictness of the Pharisees. You don’t impose yourself, and obedience to your will is not oppressive. You see me in my needs and give me the freedom to choose to do what is good and pleasing to you. Just as David shared the bread of offering with his companions to satiate their hunger, help me see the hunger others have for your mercy and give to others what you first gave to me. Saint Agnes, 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.

“Be opened!” | Twenty-third Sunday in Ordinary Time

From the responsorial psalm: “The LORD gives sight to the blind; the LORD raises up those who were bowed down. The LORD loves the just; the LORD protects strangers. Praise the Lord, my soul!”

A reading from the holy Gospel according to Mark (Mk 7:31-37)

Again Jesus left the district of Tyre and went by way of Sidon to the Sea of Galilee, into the district of the Decapolis. And people brought to him a deaf man who had a speech impediment and begged him to lay his hand on him. He took him off by himself away from the crowd. He put his finger into the man’s ears and, spitting, touched his tongue; then he looked up to heaven and groaned, and said to him, “Ephphatha!”—that is, “Be opened!”—And immediately the man’s ears were opened, his speech impediment was removed, and he spoke plainly.

The people who bring the man to Jesus witness a miracle and then hear from Jesus that they are not to tell anyone what they have seen. Jesus then continues his earthly mission of proclaiming the Gospel and curing the sick. Astonished at his works, the people say, “He has done all things well. He makes the deaf hear and the mute speak.” The first reading from Isaiah prophesies God coming to his people in this way: “Here is your God, he comes with vindication; with divine recompense he comes to save you. Then will the eyes of the blind be opened, the ears of the deaf be cleared; then will the lame leap like a stag, then the tongue of the mute will sing.” And who does Jesus, the Son of God, come to the aid of. Saint Paul says it is those “who are poor in the world to be rich in faith and heirs of the kingdom.”

Father in heaven, in reflecting on your Son’s miraculous healings, help me understand that his miracles are not limited to the time of his earthly ministry but occur today in the lives of those who are rich in faith. Give me the strength and courage to continue to speak up about “our glorious Lord Jesus Christ,” that he has done all things well. Lord of all, you have time and space in your hands. Be present to me in the events of the day, in the people I meet, and in the Body of Christ you make present—body and blood, soul and divinity—in the Church.

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.

“The Son of Man is lord of the sabbath.” | Saturday of the Twenty-second Week in Ordinary Time

From the responsorial psalm: “The LORD is just in all his ways and holy in all his works. The LORD is near to all who call upon him, to all who call upon him in truth. The Lord is near to all who call upon him.”

A reading from the holy Gospel according to Luke (Lk 6:1-5)

While Jesus was going through a field of grain on a sabbath, his disciples were picking the heads of grain, rubbing them in their hands, and eating them. Some Pharisees said, “Why are you doing what is unlawful on the sabbath?” Jesus said to them in reply, “Have you not read what David did when he and those who were with him were hungry? How he went into the house of God, took the bread of offering, which only the priests could lawfully eat, ate of it, and shared it with his companions?” Then he said to them, “The Son of Man is lord of the sabbath.”

As Jesus and his disciples walk through a grain field on the sabbath, the disciples begin to pluck the heads of grain and eat them. The Pharisees are critical of this, believing that any form of work, including harvesting grain, was prohibited on the sabbath. In response, Jesus refers to David, making clear that human needs can take precedence over strict interpretation of the law and that mercy and necessity are more important. “The Son of Man,” Jesus says, speaking of himself, “is lord of the sabbath.” It is God’s right to interpret the meaning and purpose of the sabbath.

God, thank you for this day and for every good gift! Finding quiet time to be with you today may turn out to be challenging, but I want to trust in the companionship of Jesus Christ your Son. Help me be aware that as I desire to walk with him, he is present with me in the midst of the day’s events. Help me find the sabbath rest in knowing that when I call on him, he is near. Lord of the sabbath, give me the food that sustains me in this life and prepares me for the life of the world to come. “No one comes to the Father,” Jesus said, “except through me.”

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.

Memorial of Saint Peter Claver, Priest

A reading from the holy Gospel according to Luke (Lk 6:1-5)

Jesus said to the Pharisees in reply, “Have you not read what David did when he and those who were with him were hungry? How he went into the house of God, took the bread of offering, which only the priests could lawfully eat, ate of it, and shared it with his companions?” Then he said to them, “The Son of Man is lord of the sabbath.”

Jesus responds to the Pharisees who criticize the disciples as they walk through a field, picking the heads of grain and eating them. It’s not difficult to imagine this scene. The Pharisees are on their way somewhere, and they stop in their tracks when they notice the disciples doing something unlawful. In response to the criticism of his disciples’ conduct, Jesus argues that human needs, including satisfying hunger and performing works of mercy, take precedence over the sabbath. In the Gospel according to Mark, Jesus says: “The sabbath was made for man, not man for the sabbath.” In today’s Gospel, Jesus identifies the Pharisees’ confining legalistic understanding of the sabbath and offers a deeper understanding rooted in mercy, compassion, and fulfillment of the Father’s will.

Father in heaven, you look first to the care of your people over manmade rules, rules that become distorted through fallen human nature. When I am overzealous to go to the defense of a house rule or certain habit, help me slow down and think through what I am about to say or do. Is there instead an opportunity for me to be like your Son and offer mercy? When I am keen to point out someone’s wrongdoing, give me the grace to recognize that everything I have is from you. In the sabbath, as with all your good gifts, help me be merciful as you are merciful. Saint Peter Claver, pray for us!

From the Gospel acclamation: “I am the way and the truth and the life, says the Lord; no one comes to the Father except through me.”

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.

Tuesday of the Fourth Week of Lent

“Live as children of light,” Saint Paul says, “for light produces every kind of goodness and righteousness and truth.”

A reading from the holy Gospel according to John

After this Jesus found him in the temple area and said to him, “Look, you are well; do not sin any more, so that nothing worse may happen to you.”

In today’s Gospel, Jesus sees in Jerusalem a man lying in a portico near the pool of Bethesda. The man had been ill a long time—thirty-eight years, John tells us. Knowing this, Jesus asks him, “Do you want to be well?” The man tells Jesus that he has no one to put him into the pool, so others get there before him as he is on his way. Jesus says to him, “Rise, take up your mat, and walk.” The man becomes well immediately and takes up his mat and walks. Because this took place on the sabbath, the Jews told the man it was not lawful for him to carry the mat. When they found out that Jesus was the one who made the man well, they began to persecute Jesus. “Look, you are well,” Jesus said to the man, “Do not sin any more, so that nothing worse may happen to you.” It might seem odd to ask, but what does Jesus mean? What things worse are there for one who has been ill for thirty-eight years?

God, help me comprehend the everlasting harm to the soul brought on by despair and unrepented sin. Let me see the goodness in this Gospel and take to heart Jesus’ command: “do not sin any more.” To experience Jesus’ healing in confession is to hear him say, “Look, you are well.” In the first reading from Ezekiel, the water that flowed from the temple made trees grow whose leaves would never fade and whose fruit would never fail. “The fruit shall serve for food, and their leaves for medicine.” Jesus, you in your being are the medicine that makes us well.

Through the sacraments, I have both healing in this life and the medicine of immortality. God, be my ever-present help in distress today and always. Thank you, Lord, for your presence!

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.

Readings

Memorial of Saint Anthony, Abbott

A reading from the holy Gospel according to Mark

Jesus said to the Pharisees: “The sabbath was made for man, not man for the sabbath. That is why the Son of Man is lord even of the sabbath.”

In today’s Gospel passage from Mark, Jesus passes through a field of grain on the sabbath, and his disciples picked the heads of grain as they walked with him. The Pharisees see this and tell Jesus that what they are doing is unlawful on the sabbath. Jesus answers 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?” By saying this to the Pharisees, Jesus reaffirms to them the purpose of the sabbath—since his resurrection, the Lord’s Day—and at the same time reveals his divinity as “Lord of the sabbath.” Like the Pharisees, am I bound to certain rituals that prevent me from knowing God’s love and recognizing his grace even as he offers it to me?

God, you made the sabbath for your people as an invitation to return to you, to return to holiness. Help me understand the divine purpose for which you created the sabbath. In the coming of your Son, a new order comes in keeping the meaning of the sabbath holy by transferring its observance to the first day of the week, the Lord’s Day. In the Catechism of the Catholic Church, we hold the belief that “Those who lived according to the old order of things have come to a new hope, no longer keeping the Sabbath, but the Lord’s Day.” Lord of the sabbath, Lord of all, help me during the week to long to see you in the celebration of the Eucharist each Sunday.

What is left but to thank you, God, for all of your graces of this day and every day. As the Responsorial Psalm says: “He has won renown for his wondrous deeds; gracious and merciful is the 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.

Readings