2nd Week in Ordinary Time
20th January 2023 (Friday) Readings and Reflection
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Reading of the Day
First Reading: HEBREWS 8. 6-13
6.But as it is, Christ has obtained a ministry that is as much more excellent than the old as the covenant he mediates is better, since it is enacted on better promises. 7.For if that first covenant had been faultless, there would have been no occasion to look for a second. 8.For he finds fault with them when he says: “Behold, the days are coming, declares the Lord, when I will establish a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah, 9.not like the covenant that I made with their fathers on the day when I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt. For they did not continue in my covenant, and so I showed no concern for them, declares the Lord. 10.For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, declares the Lord: I will put my laws into their minds, and write them on their hearts, and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. 11.And they shall not teach, each one his neighbor and each one his brother, saying, ‘Know the Lord,’ for they shall all know me, from the least of them to the greatest. 12.For I will be merciful toward their iniquities, and I will remember their sins no more.” 13.In speaking of a new covenant, he makes the first one obsolete. And what is becoming obsolete and growing old is ready to vanish away.
PSALM 84:4 and 10, 11-12, 13-14 (R.11a)
Response: Merciful Love and faithfulness have met
Gospel : Mark 3. 13-19
13.And he went up on the mountain and called to him those whom he desired, and they came to him. 14.And he appointed twelve (whom he also named apostles) so that they might be with him and he might send them out to preach 15.and have authority to cast out demons. 16.He appointed the twelve: Simon (to whom he gave the name Peter); 17.James the son of Zebedee and John the brother of James (to whom he gave the name Boanerges, that is, Sons of Thunder); 18.Andrew, and Philip, and Bartholomew, and Matthew, and Thomas, and James the son of Alphaeus, and Thaddaeus, and Simon the Zealot, 19.and Judas Iscariot, who betrayed him.
Daily Gospel Reflection
The Reflection by Fr. Thumma Mariadas Reddy MSFS{alertWarning}
Main Theme: A new covenant!
Indicative: The old covenant is surpassed by the new covenant through the blood of Jesus Christ. God through His Son forgives our sins and establishes a new covenant{alertSuccess}
1. We are the people of the new covenant. Jesus is the mediator and establisher of this new covenant. The newness of this covenant stands out due to a few key components: it is no more written only on stone tablets. It is an interior inscription, written on hearts.
2. It is a covenant of profound belonging where God owns us up wholly, attesting, “I will be their God and they shall be my people”. It is a covenant of forgiveness as God assures, “I will forgive their evildoing and remember their sins no more”.
3. This new covenant becomes manifest and concrete in the life and mission of Jesus Christ, the incarnate Saviour. The faithful, the followers of Christ, and the Church are the new Israel, the new people of the new covenant. The Twelve apostles become the representatives of the twelve patriarchs of the twelve tribes of Israel.
4. The church continues. The new covenant continues. Jesus symbolises and embodies this in calling the Twelve and forming the core body of the people of God. Thus, he calls them, names them, appoints them, commissions them, and empowers them.
5. The purpose of this new covenant and mission is quite clear. It is twofold: to be with him as disciples, and to be sent out as apostles. The mission too is specified. It is twofold: to preach and to drive out unclean spirits. Sts Fabian and Sebastian whom we commemorate today lived up to their call and gifted their life as martyrs in fulfillment of this mission.
Imperative: We need to always bear in mind that the purpose of our call is twofold: to be with him and to be on his mission. Therefore, let us learn to be authentic disciples and effective apostles{alertSuccess}