9TH WEEK IN ORDINARY TIME
Psalter: Week 4 / (Green/White)
St. Ephrem of Syria, deacon & doctor
Ps 146:1b-2, 6c-7, 8-9a, 9bc-10
Praise the Lord, my soul!
1st Reading: Tb 11:5-17
Now Anna was sitting there, scanning the road along which her son should return. She saw Tobias and Raphael coming in the distance and said to the father of Tobias, “Your son is coming with the man who accompanied him.” While Tobias and Raphael were still going along the road, Raphael said to Tobias, “I am sure that your father will regain his sight. Rub his eyes with the fish gall and when he feels his eyes itching, he will rub them and the film will come away like scales from his eyes. He will regain his sight and see the light.”
Anna ran to meet Tobias and threw her arms around his neck saying, “At last I have seen you again, my child. Now I can die!” And both of them began to cry. Tobit also got up and, stumbling, arrived at the door of the courtyard. Tobias ran to him with the fish gall in his hand. He breathed on his father’s eyes, embraced him and said, “Father, have confidence!” Then he spread the fish gall on Tobit’s eyes. Tobias waited. When his eyes began to itch, Tobit rubbed them and with both hands scaled off the film from the corners of his eyes. When Tobit saw his son he threw his arms around Tobias’ neck and began to weep. He said, “Blessed be you, O God. Blessed be your Name forever. Blessed be your holy angels. You have punished me, but you have taken pity on me, and now I can see my son, Tobias.” Tobias was very happy. After entering the house he told his father about the important things that had happened in Media. He told his father about the successful outcome of his journey, how he got the money, and how he married Sara, daughter of Ragouel, who just then was approaching the gates of Nineveh.
Tobit, happy and praising God, went out to meet his daughter-in-law at the gates of Nineveh. All those who saw him, walking alone and unaided, were amazed that he could see. Tobit proclaimed to them that God had taken pity on him and cured him. Then he went to Sara and blessed her saying, “Welcome, daughter! May God be blessed for having brought you to us and may your father and mother also be blessed.”
It was a day of great rejoicing for all Tobit’s relatives who lived in Nineveh.
Gospel: Mk 12:35-37
As Jesus was teaching in the temple, he said, “The teachers of the law say that the Messiah is the Son of David. How can that be? For David, himself, inspired by the Holy Spirit, declared: The Lord said to my Lord, ‘Sit at my right hand, until I put your enemies under your feet!’ If David, himself, calls him Lord, in what way can he be his Son?”
Many people came to Jesus, and listened to him gladly.
REFLECTION:
Jesus is being fought by the established religious authority all along the way. They argue with Him on every point and made His every teaching activity a contest of wits and wills. A lesser person would have given up, abandon his dreams and choose a less troublesome life. But not Jesus who works not only for a job but for a mission. He collided with the religious authorities head on, earning their ire at the same moment. On a positive note, the people who were once kept in the dark by the same religious authorities because they themselves have kept their heart blind from what God wants, are now seeing the light. We see an inverse movement between these two audiences of the Lord. As the teachers of the law become stuck in the mire of their ignorance, the people are more and more gaining enlightenment.
Daily Reflection
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Biblical Texts are taken from Christian Community Bible, Catholic Pastoral Edition (57th Edition) The New English Translation for the ROMAN MISSAL
With permission from the EPISCOPAL COMMISION ON LITURGY of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines
Readings and Reflections
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