My reflections for Jan. 29, 2006 - Sunday

January 29, 2006

Reading I
Deuteronomy 18:15-20

Moses spoke to all the people, saying:
“A prophet like me will the LORD, your God, raise up for you
from among your own kin;
to him you shall listen.
This is exactly what you requested of the LORD, your God, at Horeb
on the day of the assembly, when you said,
‘Let us not again hear the voice of the LORD, our God,
nor see this great fire any more, lest we die.’
And the LORD said to me, ‘This was well said.
I will raise up for them a prophet like you from among their kin,
and will put my words into his mouth;
he shall tell them all that I command him.’
Whoever will not listen to my words which he speaks in my name,
I myself will make him answer for it.
But if a prophet presumes to speak in my name
an oracle that I have not commanded him to speak,
or speaks in the name of other gods, he shall die.”

(God will not accept a false prophet and there are many of them around today. It is relatively simple to test a person's words to see if they are from God or not. There are two main testing points. The first is the Scriptures and the second is the teachings of the Church. If there is anything in what someone is saying that contradicts either of these sources then I suggest that you be very wary of what he or she is saying as it is not from God.)

Responsorial Psalm
Psalm 95:1-2, 6-7, 7-9

R. If today you hear his voice, harden not your hearts.
Come, let us sing joyfully to the LORD;
let us acclaim the rock of our salvation.
Let us come into his presence with thanksgiving;
let us joyfully sing psalms to him.
R. If today you hear his voice, harden not your hearts.
Come, let us bow down in worship;
let us kneel before the LORD who made us.
For he is our God,
and we are the people he shepherds, the flock he guides.
R. If today you hear his voice, harden not your hearts.
Oh, that today you would hear his voice:
“Harden not your hearts as at Meribah,
as in the day of Massah in the desert,
Where your fathers tempted me;
they tested me though they had seen my works.”
R. If today you hear his voice, harden not your hearts.

Reading II
1 Corinthians 7:32-35

Brothers and sisters:
I should like you to be free of anxieties.
An unmarried man is anxious about the things of the Lord,
how he may please the Lord.
But a married man is anxious about the things of the world,
how he may please his wife, and he is divided.
An unmarried woman or a virgin is anxious about the things of the Lord,
so that she may be holy in both body and spirit.
A married woman, on the other hand,
is anxious about the things of the world,
how she may please her husband.
I am telling you this for your own benefit,
not to impose a restraint upon you,
but for the sake of propriety
and adherence to the Lord without distraction.

(Paul is saying that the celibate life is better than the married life. However , he is saying that someone who commits himself to celibacy will be more available to the Spirit of God for use in the proclamation of the Kingdom of God. The married vocation limits the arena in which a person can commit himself to primarily the family and those close by. The celibate life makes a person available for just about any sort of ministry anywhere. Here is the distinction that Paul is trying to make in today's reading.)

Gospel
Mark 1:21-28

Then they came to Capernaum,
and on the sabbath Jesus entered the synagogue and taught.
The people were astonished at his teaching,
for he taught them as one having authority and not as the scribes.
In their synagogue was a man with an unclean spirit;
he cried out, “What have you to do with us, Jesus of Nazareth?
Have you come to destroy us?
I know who you are – the Holy One of God!”
Jesus rebuked him and said,
“Quiet! Come out of him!”
The unclean spirit convulsed him and with a loud cry came out of him.
All were amazed and asked one another,
“What is this?
A new teaching with authority.
He commands even the unclean spirits and they obey him.”
His fame spread everywhere throughout the whole region of Galilee.

(The authority with which Jesus teaches is contrasted with the lack of the same in the teaching of the scribes. Here, the author is tring to emphasize the need for authority in the proclamation of the Gospel. We will have authority when we proclaim the Good News if we live the truth that we are proclaiming. This is essential for the work of evangelization. If we fail to be living examples of ALL that we preach then no one is going to believe what we have to say. We will merly be proclaiming that we are good hypocrites!)

God's special verse/thought for me today
I maybe married but I could still be a layman to serve Him because that is what He wants me to do.

my reflections
think: If we fail to be living examples of ALL that we preach then no one is going to believe what we have to say. We will merely be proclaiming that we are good hypocrites!
O Lord, please give me the wisdom to preach your teachings and give me the strength and discipline to conform with them so that other people will believe what I have to say. Only you Lord is perfect and I am weak and imperfect. Turn O Lord my weaknesses to your strenghts so that I may live by example to people who I preach your teachings.

thank You Lord for: my wife and children. Thank you Lord that as I layman, I'm still able to serve you with unconditionally. Thank you Lord for strengthening my faith everday and becoming closer to you. Thank you Lord for the gift that I may live by example so other people could see the that you are the Truth, the Way, and the Light.