SATURDAY 2ND WEEK IN ORDINARY TIME GOSPEL, COMMENTARY AND READING. JESUS BEING CALLED A MADMAN (Mk 3:20–21).
GOSPEL OF SATURDAY OF THE 2ND WEEK IN ORDINARY TIME
Mk 3:20–21
“He is out of his mind.”
Jesus came with his disciples into the house. Again the crowd gathered, making it impossible for them even to eat. When his relatives heard of this they set out to seize him, for they said, “He is out of his mind.”
GOSPEL COMMENTARY
Today’s Gospel describes how Jesus dedicated himself totally to those who needed him such that he and his disciples didn’t have time for themselves, not even to eat. His relatives sought him out to separate him from the crowds and said that he was out of his mind.
- Jesus, called a madman, but it was a madness of love for you and me. Isn’t it true that people who are in love have only one thought, one theme in their life which is the well-being of their loved ones?
- Many saints have also been accused of being madmen. But it was the madness of sincere love they have learnt from Jesus and have practised in their lives for the sake of God and of souls.
Are we also “madly in love” with God?
Stay safe always. A great day ahead and God bless! Fr. Rolly Arjonillo
Almighty ever-living God, who govern all things, both in heaven and on earth, mercifully hear the pleading of your people and bestow your peace on our times. Through our Lord.
Collect prayer 2nd week in Ordinary Time
VIDEO COMMENTARY
TOPIC: DO YOU FEEL PEOPLE OPPOSE YOU AND DISAPPROVE OF YOU?
In today’s gospel (Mark 3:20-21), Jesus is wrongly judged by his relatives and community as being out of his mind. They were upset with Jesus’ public ministry and wanted him to go back to his job as a skilled carpenter, especially since He was getting into trouble with the authorities. That is why, on one occasion Matthew (10:36) He even remarked, “your worst enemies will be the members of your own family.”While others need to understand us, we also need to open ourselves to the possibility that others have a point.
READING FROM A SAINT
The pure offering made by the Church
by St. Irenaeus
The Lord taught the Church to make an offering throughout the whole world, and God accepts this as a pure sacrifice. It is not that God needs any sacrifice that we might offer, but that whoever offers something is glorified in the act of offering – if, that is, his gift is accepted. Making a gift to a king shows our honour and loyalty to him – and it was because the Lord wanted us to make our offerings in all innocence and without ulterior motives that he said: When you are offering your gift at the altar, and you remember that your brother has something against you, leave your gift there at the altar. First go and be reconciled to your brother, and then come back and offer your gift.
We ought to offer to God the first fruits of his creation, as even Moses said: Do not come empty-handed into the presence of the Lord your God. Thus whatever we are grateful for, we can show our gratitude to God by gifts and receive back the honour that God can give us. The new law does not abolish offerings. There were offerings under the old law and there are offerings now. Then, sacrifice was made by the people, now it is made by the Church. The only change is that the sacrifice is not now offered by slaves but by free men. The Lord remains one and the same – but an offering made by a slave is of a characteristic kind, and so too is an offering made by a free man: its nature is a sign of his free status. With God, nothing is purposeless, or meaningless, or without a good reason. Thus under the old law they consecrated one tenth of their possessions, while those who have received their freedom set aside everything they have for the Lord’s use. They cheerfully and freely give more than the bare minimum because they have more than the bare minimum of hope. The poor widow put all that she possessed into the Temple treasury.
For we must make an offering to God, and show ourselves in every way grateful to him who made us – in purity of thought, in sincerity of faith, in fervent hope and burning love – as we offer the first fruits of the things he has created and that are his. This offering the Church makes alone to her creator, making it with gratitude from his creation.
For we are offering him the things that are his, preaching our fellowship and union and proclaiming the resurrection of body and soul. Just as bread that comes from the earth, once the words of consecration have been said, is no longer ordinary bread but becomes the Eucharist, made of two things, earthly and heavenly, so our bodies, receiving it, are no longer corruptible but have the hope of resurrection within them.
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