Monday, February 06, 2006
TUESDAY 5TH WEEK IN ORDINARY TIME
FEBRUARY 7, 2006
TUESDAY 5TH WEEK IN ORDINARY TIME - YEAR II
1 KINGS 8:22-23, 27-30
Solomon stood before the altar of the LORD in the presence of the
whole community of Israel, and stretching forth his hands toward
heaven, he said, "LORD, God of Israel, there is no God like you in
heaven above or on earth below; you keep your covenant of mercy with
your servants who are faithful to you with their whole heart. "Can
it indeed be that God dwells on earth? If the heavens and the
highest heavens cannot contain you, how much less this temple which
I have built! Look kindly on the prayer and petition of your
servant, O LORD, my God, and listen to the cry of supplication which
I, your servant, utter before you this day. May your eyes watch
night and day over this temple, the place where you have decreed you
shall be honored; may you heed the prayer which I, your servant,
offer in this place. Listen to the petitions of your servant and of
your people Israel which they offer in this place. Listen from your
heavenly dwelling and grant pardon."
MARK 7:1-13
When the Pharisees with some scribes who had come from Jerusalem
gathered around Jesus, they observed that some of his disciples ate
their meals with unclean, that is, unwashed, hands. (For the
Pharisees and, in fact, all Jews, do not eat without carefully
washing their hands, keeping the tradition of the elders. And on
coming from the marketplace they do not eat without purifying
themselves. And there are many other things that they have
traditionally observed, the purification of cups and jugs and
kettles and beds.) So the Pharisees and scribes questioned him, "Why
do your disciples not follow the tradition of the elders but instead
eat a meal with unclean hands?" He responded, "Well did Isaiah
prophesy about you hypocrites, as it is written: This people honors
me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me; In vain do
they worship me, teaching as doctrines human precepts. You
disregard God's commandment but cling to human tradition." He went
on to say, "How well you have set aside the commandment of God in
order to uphold your tradition! For Moses said, Honor your father
and your mother, and Whoever curses father or mother shall die. Yet
you say, `If someone says to father or mother, "Any support you
might have had from me is qorban"' (meaning, dedicated to God), you
allow him to do nothing more for his father or mother. You nullify
the word of God in favor of your tradition that you have handed on.
And you do many such things."
REFLECTION
One need not go to Jerusalem, Lourdes or Fatima to find God and
discover his presence among us. Solomon realized this when he
offered his prayer at the dedication of the Temple he built for God
to dwell in: "If the highest heavens cannot contain you, my God,"
Solomon prayed, "how much less this Temple that I have built."
God is everywhere in his creation, for all things come from God and
bear his creative presence. All things are sacred. God is present
in the Book of Sacred Scripture; we know this for ultimately he is
the author of Scripture. But is he not the author of all the books
that men and women publish, of all the music they compose?
All things are sacred. The ground we stand and walk on today is
holy ground, the air we breathe is the breath of God, the sunrise
and sunset we delight in, he paints. Simple bread and ordinary wine
are holy even before they become food and drink for eternity, before
they re-create in our midst the Christian Passover. All we touch
today and use are hallowed things.
God is not and cannot be limited. We need only set free the senses
of our souls to taste and feel and smell and hear and perceive the
spiritual reality embedded in the material world in the midst of
which we live.
PRAYER REQUESTS
We pray ...
- for a deep and profound respect for life, especially for the
unborn.
- for the personal intentions and success of Antoniette Lao,
Catherine Librando, Alimar Nassaei, Joel Salahudin and the rest of
the examinees of the SWU-College of Medicine. May the Holy Spirit
guide them in their endeavors.
- for the forthcoming medical board exams of Evangelyn Sandoval. May
the Holy Spirit provide her with wisdom, knowledge and strength.
- for the speedy recovery of Poch Tejada, Victoria Sy Contreras and
Chabel Go.
- for the speedy recovery of Ana Mendoza.
- for all the prayer intentions in the MTQ Dailyprayer Diary.
- Birthday: Virginia Sim
- 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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