Friday, January 16, 2026

 

Friday of the First Week in Ordinary Time

(I Samuel 8:4-7.10-22a; Mark 2:1-12)

Jesus’ question in today’s gospel is hard to appreciate.  Of course, it is easier to say “Your sins are forgiven” when no one can see the forgiveness taking effect.  But this is not what Jesus means by the question.  Rather, he wants the people to consider which will cost him more – to bring about the forgiveness of sin or to heal physical maladies?

Achieving the forgiveness of sins will cost Jesus his life.  He will be crucified as a human sacrifice to the Father so that the sins of the world may be forgiven.  Those who repent of their sins can walk free of guilt with Jesus enduring their due punishment. 

We might ask ourselves a question like the one Jesus proposes.  When we are offended, is it better for us to forgive our offender or to do something good for her or him?  It seems more efficacious for us to help the person than to dispense an unrequested pardon.  In this way the offender might be moved by our generosity to acknowledge his or her guilt.  Then we can forgive the offense and achieve the desired reconciliation.

Thursday, January 15, 2026

 Thursday of the First Week in Ordinary Time

 (I Samuel 4:1-11; Mark 1:40-45)

 After every natural catastrophe – earthquake, hurricane, fire – humans ask themselves how God could have permitted it.  They wonder whether God has been capricious all along, whether they did not respond properly to His initiatives, or whether He exists at all.  Such questions echo the elders of Israel in today’s first reading.

  “’Why has the Lord permitted us to be defeated today by the Philistines?’” the men ask themselves. Apparently assuming that the problem lies with God’s lack of attention, they summon the Ark of the Covenant to be brought to the battlefront.  “Surely the Lord will wake up,” the elders now seem to say, “when He sees His people’s need.”  Of course, the tactic fails.  God knows quite well of their vulnerability yet chooses not to support the Israelites. 

 God has His reasons which will always remain obscure to humans.  We might speculate in the case under consideration that God is changing the center of human authority from judges to a king as well as the center of cultic worship from Shiloh to Jerusalem. Or it may be that God is chastening his people for thinking that the mere presence of holy things, not their becoming holy, is what is most important.  Still, God’s ways are often inscrutable.  If we could figure them out, we would sit on an equal level with God.  But this does not mean that God caresses and despises humans at whim.  No, He has definitively chosen to support His people when He sent us his Son, Jesus Christ.  Like the leper Jesus cures in today’s gospel, God loves us despite our not always heeding His commands.  

 

Wednesday, January 14, 20216

 

Wednesday of the First Week in Ordinary Time

(I Samuel 3:1-10.19-20; Mark 1:1-29-39)

Feeling called, like Samuel in today’s first reading, is an almost universal experience.  Most youth have a sense that they are called to do something or be something greater than they presently are or are doing.  Although they may not consider their calling with this term, they experience a vocation. “Vocation” is derived from the Latin vocatio meaning a “calling.” It may originate from an inner sense of destiny or something outside that attracts their attention like a poster to join the army.  In either case, they are moved to do something so that they might realize what they feel called to be.

Samuel senses his vocation to serve the Lord which apparently comes in a dream.  His words respond to the voice he hears while sleeping. He says, “Here I am.”  Church members should also sense a call to serve the Lord.  Most will not discern a calling to be a priest or religious sister.  But they may sense a call to a lay ministry like bringing Communion to the homebound.  Or they may discern a call to live as saints in the world; that is, raising a family, working at a job, serving the greater community with the love and diligence of Jesus’ disciples.

We sometimes resist our calling.  The fun or left side of our brain may signal that a Church ministry or even identifying too closely with our faith would be restrictive.  This type of thinking surrenders to unfounded fear.  We experience deep freedom when we serve the Lord.  He accompanies us, strengthens us, and fulfills us so that we feel his love. 

Tuesday, January 13, 2026

 Tuesday of the First Week in Ordinary Time

(I Samuel 1:9-10; Mark 1:21-18)

“What have you to do with us, Jesus of Nazareth? ...”  The devil’s question in the gospel resounds in the consciences of people today.  Seniors, reflecting over their lives, wonder if Jesus’ wisdom is any more efficacious than that of other sages.  The middle-aged, finding a measure of identity in a faith tradition, still refuse to follow all the tenets of the founder.  The young are mostly indifferent to Jesus as they pursue a life of autonomy and security. 

To be sure, Jesus has much to add to the lives of all.  The elderly will find hope in him. Even if they have not achieved fame or have had a family to remember them, he promises them eternal life.  The middle-aged will find in Jesus a more solid foundation for life than possessions or international experiences.  His ways will add a depth of meaning proven worthwhile by the saints over the centuries.  The young will have a way out of the insularity of self-concern.  They will learn from Jesus how to love with their hearts.

Just as Jesus brought freedom to the demoniac, he can free us to achieve the fullness of spirit that our creation as humans offers.  By no means is his way easy as it calls us beyond personal desires.  But whatever the difficulties it entails, it assures us of his companionship as friend and guide.

Monday, January 12, 2026

 

Monday of the First Week in Ordinary Time

(I Samuel 1:1-6; Mark 1:14-20)

The first words of Jesus in the Gospel of Mark are telling.  He says them in in today’s gospel passage: “This is the time of fulfillment.” It is fair, even necessary, to ask, “fulfillment of what?” What are the desires and hopes that are now going to be fulfilled?

In an insightful article journalist David Brooks says that among Americans there has been a telling shift in hopes and desires.  No longer do they want love, at least as defined in a classical way of giving oneself completely to another, either one person, a group of people, or a cause.  Rather, he says, today most people want autonomy, a detachment from others so that one they might pursue personal interests without commitments standing in the way.

For Jesus fulfillment means the connecting of people to God.  This desire has been named “the holy longing.” Jesus is here to bring us much closer to the Lord and to one another.  He is present in the Church which gathers us as brothers and sisters and directs our corporate self to his loving Father.