6th Week in Ordinary Time
16th February 2023 (Thursday) Readings and Reflection
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Reading of the Day
First Reading: Genesis 9:1-13
God blessed Noah and his sons, and said to them, "Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth. The fear of you and the dread of you shall be upon every beast of the earth and upon every bird of the heavens, upon everything that creeps on the ground and all the fish of the sea. Into your hand they are delivered. Every moving thing that lives shall be food for you. And as I gave you the green plants, give you everything. But you shall not eat flesh with its life, that is, its blood. And for your lifeblood I will require a reckoning: from every beast I will require it and from man. From his fellow man I will require a reckoning for the life of man. "Whoever sheds the blood of man, by man shall his blood be shed, for God made man in his own image. And you, be fruitful and multiply, increase greatly on the earth and multiply in it." Then God said to Noah and to his sons with him, "Behold, I establish my covenant with you and your offspring after you, and with every living creature that is with you, the birds, the livestock, and every beast of the earth with you, as many as came out of the ark; it is for every beast of the earth. I establish my covenant with you, that never again shall all flesh be cut off by the waters of the flood, and never again shall there be a flood to destroy the earth." And God said, "This is the sign of the covenant that I make between me and you and every living creature that is with you, for all future generations: I have set my bow in the cloud, and it shall be a sign of the covenant between me and the earth."
Psalm 102:16-18, 19-21, 29 and 22-23 (R. 20b)
R/. The Lord looked down from heaven to the earth.
Gospel : Mark 8:27-33
At that time: Jesus went on with his disciples, to the villages of Caesarea Philippi. And on the way he asked his disciples, "Who do people say that I am?" And they told him, "John the Baptist; and others say, Elijah; and others, one of the prophets." And he asked them, "But who do you say that I am?" Peter answered him, "You are the Christ." And he strictly charged them to tell no one about him. And he began to teach them that the Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders and the chief priests and the scribes and be killed, and after three days rise again. And he said this plainly. And Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him. But turning and seeing his disciples, he rebuked Peter and said, "Get behind me, Satan! For you are not setting your mind on the things of God, but on the things of man."
Daily Gospel Reflection
The Reflection by Fr. Thumma Mariadas Reddy MSFS{alertWarning}
Main Theme: Live and abound!
Indicative: In creating the whole creation and especially creating the humans in His own image and likeness, God has a definite purpose: to live fully and let others live joyfully{alertSuccess}
1. We are reeling through a devastating culture of death. Aggression, violence, and destruction mark this culture. Life is not valued. Values of life are not appreciated. Life is stifled and suffocated. In such a context, we need to rediscover and restore the value and beauty of life. We need to foster a culture of life.
2. Today’s first reading of God’s dialogue with Noah makes this clear. God is concerned about life. He declares very clearly that He will demand a strict accounting for any life and all the more human life. No life should be tampered with because all life is the gift of God and thus any violation of life is a violation against God Himself.
3. God makes a covenant with Noah and this is a covenant of life. It is an assurance that life shall not be destroyed but protected and promoted. God is a living God and He is a life-giving God. God lives and His covenant lives whenever and wherever the value and the values of life are safeguarded.
4. Seen in this perspective, sin is whatever disrupts and destroys life. When men fall to the sway of sin and destroy their life, God sends His only Son to be the Saviour, the Christ. Jesus then truly is the Christ, the Son of the Living God. This is his identity and his mission is to save life and restore it to its original beauty and dignity.
5. Blessed are those who realise this identity and mission of the Lord and surrender and commit themselves to the Lord! Peter declares this realisation. He answers to Jesus’question, “Who do you say I am?”, by saying, “You are the Christ”.
6. This is clearly not his knowledge. This is the knowledge, the revelation by God. Whoever thinks as God thinks and does what God wants to do, is with God. But whoever thinks as ordinary human beings according to human considerations and calculations, is in company with Satan.
7. That is why when Peter rebuked Jesus against the path of suffering, rejection, persecution, and eventual death, Jesus sternly rebukes him in return. He reproaches, saying, “Get behind me, Satan”.
Imperative: In life, oftentimes, we may not understand God’s ways. We may think quite humanly according to human standards. Particularly we may not understand the salvific value of suffering. We may resent and resist. But let us realise it is God’s way and surrender to it{alertSuccess}