January 18, 2016
Monday
of the Second Week in Ordinary Time
Reading 1
16Samuel
said to Saul: “Stop!
Let me tell you what the LORD said to me last night.”
Saul
replied, “Speak!” 17Samuel
then said: “Though little in your own esteem, are
you not leader of the tribes of Israel? The
LORD anointed you king of Israel 18and sent you on a mission, saying, ‘Go
and put the sinful Amalekites under a ban of destruction. Fight
against them until you have exterminated them.’ 19Why
then have you disobeyed the LORD? You
have pounced on the spoil, thus displeasing the LORD.”
20Saul
answered Samuel: “I did indeed obey the LORD and
fulfill the mission on which the LORD sent me. I
have brought back Agag, and I have destroyed Amalek under the ban. 21But
from the spoil the men took sheep and oxen, the
best of what had been banned, to
sacrifice to the LORD their God in Gilgal.”
22But
Samuel said: “Does
the LORD so delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices as
in obedience to the command of the LORD? Obedience
is better than sacrifice, and
submission than the fat of rams.[1]
23For
a sin like divination is rebellion, and
presumption is the crime of idolatry.
Because
you have rejected the command of the LORD, He,
too, has rejected you as ruler.”
Responsorial Psalm
8“Not
for your sacrifices do I rebuke you, for
your burnt offerings are before Me always. 9I
take from your house no bullock, no
goats out of your fold.”
R.
To the upright I will show the saving power of God.
16b“Why
do you recite my statutes, 16ccand
profess my covenant with your mouth,
17Though
you hate discipline and
cast My words behind you?”
R.
To the upright I will show the saving power of God.
21“When
you do these things, shall I be deaf to it? Or
do you think that I am like yourself? I
will correct you by drawing them up before your eyes. 23He
that offers praise as a sacrifice glorifies Me; and
to him that goes the right way I will show the salvation of God.”
R.
To the upright I will show the saving power of God.
Responsorial Psalm
R.
Alleluia, alleluia.
The
word of God is living and effective,
able
to discern reflections and thoughts of the heart.
R.
Alleluia, alleluia.
Gospel
18The
disciples of John and of the Pharisees were accustomed to fast. People came to Jesus and objected, “Why do the disciples of John and the
disciples of the Pharisees fast, but your disciples do not fast?”[2]
19Jesus
answered them, “Can the wedding guests fast while the bridegroom is with them? As
long as they have the bridegroom with them they cannot fast.[3]
20But the days will come when the bridegroom is taken away from them, and then
they will fast on that day.
21No
one sews a piece of unshrunken cloth on an old cloak. If he does, its fullness
pulls away, the new from the old, and the tear gets worse.
22Likewise,
no one pours new wine into old wineskins. Otherwise, the wine will burst the
skins, and both the wine and the skins are ruined. Rather, new wine is poured
into fresh wineskins.”
Notes on Readings:
[1] 1 Samuel 15:22 - Samuel is
disapproving, not of sacrifices in general, but of merely external sacrifices
offered in defiance of God's commandment and without heartfelt obedience.
[2] Mark 2:18-22 - This conflict over the
question of fasting has the same pattern as Mark 2:16-17; see the footnotes on ⇒ Matthew 9:15; 9:16-17.
[3] Mark 2:19 - Can the wedding guests
fast?: the bridal metaphor expresses a new relationship of love between God and His people in the person and mission of Jesus to His disciples. It is the
inauguration of the new and joyful messianic time of fulfillment and the passing
of the old. Any attempt at assimilating the Pharisaic practice of fasting, or
of extending the preparatory discipline of John's disciples beyond the arrival
of the bridegroom, would be as futile as sewing a piece of unshrunken cloth on
an old cloak or pouring new wine into old wineskins with the resulting
destruction of both cloth and wine (Mark 2:21-22). Fasting is rendered superfluous during the earthly
ministry of Jesus; compare with Mark 2:20.
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Dear Humanity,
I personally encourage everyone to emulate JESUS' values on LOVE, FAITH, HOPE
and CHARITY, as the humanity has been a failure; which resulted to the more than two (2) years of pandemic and its after-effects on economy, not only here in the Philippines but worldwide.
And the saddest part of it, is that, it affected the POOREST of the POOR to even extremely be more poorer, in exchange of the affluent to be more richer.
Thank you and may GOD bless you and the whole family to have an enjoyed life's journey at home, Church, schools/universities, corporate commitments, public and places of interest.