2nd Week in Ordinary Time
18th January 2023 (Wednesday) Readings and Reflection
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Reading of the Day
First Reading: HEBREWS 7. 1-3, 15-17
1.For this Melchizedek, king of Salem, priest of the Most High God, met Abraham returning from the slaughter of the kings and blessed him, 2.and to him Abraham apportioned a tenth part of everything. He is first, by translation of his name, king of righteousness, and then he is also king of Salem, that is, king of peace. 3.He is without father or mother or genealogy, having neither beginning of days nor end of life, but resembling the Son of God he continues a priest forever.15.This becomes even more evident when another priest arises in the likeness of Melchizedek, 16.who has become a priest, not on the basis of a legal requirement concerning bodily descent, but by the power of an indestructible life. 17.For it is witnessed of him, “You are a priest forever, after the order of Melchizedek.”
PSALM Psalms 110: 1, 2, 3, 4 (R.4bc)
Response: You are a priest for ever, in the line of Melchizedek.
Gospel : Mark 3. 1-6
1.Again he entered the synagogue, and a man was there with a withered hand. 2.And they watched Jesus,a to see whether he would heal him on the Sabbath, so that they might accuse him. 3.And he said to the man with the withered hand, “Come here.” 4.And he said to them, “Is it lawful on the Sabbath to do good or to do harm, to save life or to kill?” But they were silent. 5.And he looked around at them with anger, grieved at their hardness of heart, and said to the man, “Stretch out your hand.” He stretched it out, and his hand was restored. 6.The Pharisees went out and immediately held counsel with the Herodians against him, how to destroy him.
Daily Gospel Reflection
The Reflection by Fr. Thumma Mariadas Reddy MSFS{alertWarning}
Main Theme: Do not be shrunk!
Indicative: Righteousness and peace have become mirages today. Peace is destroyed because righteousness is discarded{alertSuccess}
1. In the first reading, the focus is on Melchizedek. His name is suggestive. It means righteousness. His place of the reign was also suggestive. He was the king of Salem and Salem means peace. There is no detail about his origin or ancestry. Thus, he is without the beginning and the end. As such, he resembles the Son of God, who is without beginning or end and king of righteousness and peace.
2. Jesus, the Son of God, is a priest forever, according to the order of Melchizedek. he reigns righteously and brings about peace. The whole purpose of Jesus’ incarnation and life is to establish righteousness and peace.
3. Preaching and healing are integral parts of his reign. They are not just two components of his mission. They are effective signs and testimonies of his very identity and mission. But sadly, the Pharisees and scribes fail to see him from this integral perspective. They look at him from an earth-bound view and so block him every time. Their whole lookout was to accuse him of anything and everything.
4. Today we have one such instance. They wait to see whether he would cure a man with a withered hand on a Sabbath day. Jesus does not “disappoint” them. No fear, no other force would deter him from doing good.
5.Jesus cures the man with the withered hand. He boldly challenges their wickedness with a crucial question: What is lawful on a Sabbath day – do good or evil, save life or destroy it? In fact, one could break the Sabbath rule when life is in danger. And as for them, there was no mighty hurry for that man to be cured. He could wait. But for Jesus, every act of good is urgent and an emergency.
6. Lamentable was the hardness of the Pharisees and scribes. The very healing that does good and saves life leads them to further hatred and plot to kill Jesus.
Imperative: What an irony! Jesus does good but he meets evil. He saves life but he will be put to death. He follows the supreme law of love but he is condemned as the violator of the law. We need to heal our withered hearts!{alertSuccess}