Monday, January 16, 2006
TUESDAY 2ND WEEK IN ORDINARY TIME
JANUARY 17, 2006
TUESDAY 2ND WEEK IN ORDINARY TIME - YEAR II
1 SAMUEL 16:1-13
The LORD said to Samuel: "How long will you grieve for Saul, whom I
have rejected as king of Israel? Fill your horn with oil, and be on
your way. I am sending you to Jesse of Bethlehem, for I have chosen
my king from among his sons." But Samuel replied: "How can I go?
Saul will hear of it and kill me." To this the LORD answered: "Take
a heifer along and say, `I have come to sacrifice to the LORD.'
Invite Jesse to the sacrifice, and I myself will tell you what to
do; you are to anoint for me the one I point out to you." Samuel
did as the LORD had commanded him. When he entered Bethlehem, the
elders of the city came trembling to meet him and inquired, "Is your
visit peaceful, O seer?" He replied: "Yes! I have come to sacrifice
to the LORD. So cleanse yourselves and join me today for the
banquet." He also had Jesse and his sons cleanse themselves and
invited them to the sacrifice. As they came, he looked at Eliab and
thought, "Surely the LORD's anointed is here before him." But the
LORD said to Samuel: "Do not judge from his appearance or from his
lofty stature, because I have rejected him. Not as man sees does God
see, because he sees the appearance but the LORD looks into the
heart." Then Jesse called Abinadab and presented him before Samuel,
who said, "The LORD has not chosen him." Next Jesse presented
Shammah, but Samuel said, "The LORD has not chosen this one either."
In the same way Jesse presented seven sons before Samuel, but Samuel
said to Jesse, "The LORD has not chosen any one of these." Then
Samuel asked Jesse, "Are these all the sons you have?" Jesse
replied, "There is still the youngest, who is tending the sheep."
Samuel said to Jesse, "Send for him; we will not begin the
sacrificial banquet until he arrives here." Jesse sent and had the
young man brought to them. He was ruddy, a youth handsome to behold
and making a splendid appearance. The LORD said, "Thereanoint him,
for this is he!" Then Samuel, with the horn of oil in hand,
anointed him in the midst of his brothers; and from that day on, the
Spirit of the LORD rushed upon David. When Samuel took his leave,
he went to Ramah.
MARK 2:23-28
As Jesus was passing through a field of grain on the sabbath, his
disciples began to make a path while picking the heads of grain. 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?
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."
REFLECTION
One Sabbath Jesus and his disciples were walking through a wheat
field. The apostles were hungry so they began pulling heads of grain
from the wheat stalks. This action was considered work by the
Pharisees and was forbidden on the Sabbath. Therefore, the
Pharisees objected to their behavior.
Jesus refers the Pharisees to the story of David and his soldiers in
the Bible. When they were hungry, the temple priests gave them
loaves which had been made sacred by being offered to the Lord.
There was a strict law that this bread could be eaten only by the
priests. Yet the Bible does not condemn the priests who gave the
bread away, nor does it condemn David and his soldiers who ate the
bread.
Then Jesus makes a statement, which is perhaps one of the most
seminal statements in the Gospels: "The Sabbath is made for men and
women, not men and women for the Sabbath." The Lord is saying that
laws governing religious observance are not ends in themselves.
They do not exist for their own sake. The purpose of these laws is
the good of men and women. They exist for the sake of human
beings. They are means of bringing men and women into communion
with God.
This is an extraordinary statement. It's significant because the
Sabbath is perhaps the holiest of Israel's religious institutions.
What Jesus is implying here is that when a conflict arises between
the good of the individual human being and the demands of this most
holy institution, the demands of the Sabbath must yield to the good
of the individual human beingas Jesus demonstrated in his story
about David.
We must always keep in mind: whether the institution or the law
we're speaking of has been created by the Church or the State, it
doesn't matter. The dignity of the human person surpasses by far
the dignity of any law or institution.
PRAYER
"Lord, may I give you fitting honor in the way I live my life and in
the way I treat my neighbor. May I honor the Lord's Day as a day
holy to you. And may I always treat others with the same mercy and
kindness which you have shown to me. Free me from a critical and
intolerant spirit that I may always seek the good of my neighbor."
PRAYER REQUESTS
We pray -
- for a deep and profound respect for life, especially for the
unborn.
- Thanksgiving and personal intentions of Baby Jane Figuerres.
- for Germana who is sick, may the Good Lord heal her.
- for the healing of of Rachel Culaton and Rose Noemi Co.
- for the personal intentions of Charles Conrad C and Cheryl C.
- for all the prayer intentions in the MTQ Dailyprayer Diary.
- In Memoriam (+): Tong Hun
- for world peace and reconciliation.
Finally, we pray for one another, for those who have asked our
prayers and for those who need our prayers the most.
Have a good day!
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