January 24, 2016
Third Sunday in Ordinary Time
Saint of the Day: Saint Francis of Sales, Doctor of the Church (1622)
Reading 1
2Ezra the priest brought the law
before the assembly, which consisted of men, women, and those children old enough to
understand. 3Standing at one end of the open
place that was before the Water Gate, he read out of the book from daybreak
till midday, in the presence of the men, the
women, and those children old enough to
understand; and all the people listened
attentively to the book of the law.
4aEzra the scribe stood on a wooden
platform that had been made for the occasion.
5He opened the scroll so that all the people might see it - for he was standing higher up than
any of the people -; and, as he opened it, all the people
rose.
6Ezra blessed the LORD, the great
God, and all the people, their hands
raised high, answered, “Amen, amen!” Then they bowed down and prostrated
themselves before the LORD, their faces to the ground.
8Ezra read plainly from the book of
the law of God, interpreting it so that all could
understand what was read. 9Then Nehemiah, that is, His
Excellency, and Ezra the priest-scribe and the Levites who were instructing
the people said to all the people:
“Today is holy to the LORD your God. Do not be sad, and do not weep” - for all the people were weeping as
they heard the words of the law.
10He said further: “Go, eat rich
foods and drink sweet drinks, and allot portions to those who had
nothing prepared; for today is holy to our LORD. Do not be saddened this day, for rejoicing in the LORD must be
your strength!”
Responsorial
Psalm
8The law of the LORD is perfect, refreshing the soul; The decree of the LORD is
trustworthy, giving wisdom to the simple.
R. Your words, Lord, are Spirit and
life.
9The precepts of the LORD are right, rejoicing the heart; the command of the LORD is clear, enlightening the eye.
R. Your words, Lord, are Spirit and
life.
10The fear of the LORD is pure, enduring forever; The ordinances of the LORD are true, all of them just.
R. Your words, Lord, are Spirit and
life.
15Let the words of my mouth and the
thought of my heart find favor before you, O LORD, my rock and my redeemer.
R. Your words, Lord, are Spirit and
life.
Reading 2
12Brothers and sisters: As a body is one though it has many
parts, and all the parts of the body, though
many, are one body, so also Christ.[1]
13For in one Spirit we were all
baptized into one body, whether Jews or Greeks, slaves or free
persons, and we were all given to drink of one
Spirit.
14Now the body is not a single part,
but many. 15If a foot should say, “Because I am not a hand I do not
belong to the body,” it does not for this reason belong
any less to the body. 16Or if an ear should say, “Because I am not an eye I do not
belong to the body,” it does not for this reason belong
any less to the body.
17If the whole body were an eye,
where would the hearing be? If the whole body were hearing, where
would the sense of smell be? 18But as it is, God placed the parts, each one of them, in the body as He
intended.
19If they were all one part, where
would the body be? 20But as it is, there are many parts,
yet one body. 21The eye cannot say to the hand, “I
do not need you,” nor again the head to the feet, “I do
not need you.”
22Indeed, the parts of the body that
seem to be weaker are all the more necessary,
23and those parts of the body that we
consider less honorable we surround with greater honor, and our less presentable parts are
treated with greater propriety,
24whereas our more presentable parts
do not need this. But God has so constructed the body as to give greater honor to a part
that is without it, 25so that there may be no division in
the body, but that the parts may have the same
concern for one another.
26If one part suffers, all the parts
suffer with it; if one part is honored, all the parts
share its joy.
27Now you are Christ’s body, and
individually parts of it.[2] 28Some people God has designated in
the church to be, first, apostles; second,
prophets; third, teachers;
29Are all apostles? Are all prophets?
Are all teachers? 30Do all work mighty deeds? Do all
have gifts of healing? Do all speak in tongues? Do all
interpret?
12Brothers and sisters: As a body is one though it has many
parts, and all the parts of the body, though
many, are one body, so also Christ. 13For in one Spirit we were all
baptized into one body, whether Jews or Greeks, slaves or
free persons,
and we were all given to drink of one
Spirit.
14Now the body is not a single part,
but many. 27You are Christ’s body, and
individually parts of it.
Alleluia compare with Luke 4:18
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
The Lord sent me to bring glad
tidings to the poor, and to proclaim liberty to captives.
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
Gospel
1:1Since many have undertaken to
compile a narrative of the events that have been fulfilled among us,[4]
1:2just as those who were eyewitnesses from the beginning and ministers of the
word have handed them down to us, 1:3I too have decided, after investigating
everything accurately anew, to write it down in an orderly sequence for you, most
excellent Theophilus, 1:4so that you may realize the certainty of the teachings
you have received.
4:14Jesus returned to Galilee in the
power of the Spirit, and news of Him spread throughout the whole region. 4:15He
taught in their synagogues and was praised by all.
4:16He came to Nazareth, where He had
grown up, and went according to His custom into the synagogue on the sabbath day. He stood up to read and was handed a scroll
of the prophet Isaiah. 4:17He unrolled the scroll and found the passage where it
was written:
4:18The Spirit of the Lord is upon me,
because He has anointed me to bring glad tidings to the poor.[5] 4:19He has sent me to proclaim liberty to captives and recovery of sight to the
blind, to let the oppressed go free, and to proclaim a year acceptable to the
Lord.
4:20Rolling up the scroll, He handed it
back to the attendant and sat down, and the eyes of all in the synagogue looked
intently at Him. 4:21He said to them, “Today this Scripture passage is fulfilled
in your hearing.”[6]
Notes on Readings:
[1] 1 Corinthians
12:12-26 - The image of a body is introduced to explain Christ's relationship
with believers (1 Corinthians 12:12 . 1 Corinthians 12:13 applies this model to the church: by baptism
all, despite diversity of ethnic or social origins, are integrated into one
organism. 1 Corinthians 12:14-26 then develop the need for diversity of function among the parts of a body
without threat to its unity.
[2] 1 Corinthians
12:27-30 - Paul now applies the image again to the church as a whole and its
members (1 Corinthians 12:27). The lists in1 Corinthains 12:28-30 spell out the parallelism by specifying the diversity of functions found in the
church (compare with Romans 12:6-8; Ephesians 4:11).
[3] 1 Corinthians
12:28 - First, apostles: apostleship was not mentioned in 1 Corinthains 12:8-10, nor is it at issue in these chapters, but Paul gives it pride of place in his
listing. It is not just one gift among others but a prior and fuller gift that
includes the others. They are all demonstrated in Paul's apostolate, but he may
have developed his theology of charisms by reflecting first of all on his own
grace of apostleship (compare with 1 Corinthains 3:5 - 4:14; 9:1-27; 2 Corinthains 2:14 - 6:13; 10:1 - 13:30 , especially 1 Corinthians 11:23 and 12:12).
[4] Luke 1:1-4 - The Gospel
according to Luke is the only one of the synoptic gospels to begin with a
literary prologue. Making use of a formal, literary construction and
vocabulary, the author writes the prologue in imitation of Hellenistic Greek
writers and, in so doing, relates his story about Jesus to contemporaneous
Greek and Roman literature. Luke is not only interested in the words and deeds
of Jesus, but also in the larger context of the birth, ministry, death, and
resurrection of Jesus as the fulfillment of the promises of God in the Old
Testament. As a second- or third-generation Christian, Luke acknowledges his
debt to earlier eyewitnesses and ministers of the word, but claims that his
contribution to this developing tradition is a complete and accurate account,
told in an orderly manner, and intended to provide Theophilus ("friend of
God," literally) and other readers with certainty about earlier teachings
they have received.
[5] Luke 4:18 - The
Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me: see the footnote on Luke 3:21-22. As this incident develops, Jesus is portrayed as a prophet whose ministry is
compared to that of the prophets Elijah and Elisha. Prophetic anointings are
known in first-century Palestinian Judaism from the Qumran literature that
speaks of prophets as God's anointed ones. To bring glad tidings to the poor:
more than any other gospel writer Luke is concerned with Jesus' attitude toward
the economically and socially poor (see Luke 6:20, 24; 12:16-21; 14:12-14 ; 16:16-26; 19:8). At times, the poor in Luke's gospel are associated with the downtrodden, the
oppressed and afflicted, the forgotten and the neglected (Luke 4:18; 6;20-22; 7:22; 14:12-14, and it is they who accept Jesus' message of salvation.
[6] Luke 4:21 - Today this scripture passage is fulfilled in
your hearing: this sermon inaugurates the time of fulfillment of Old Testament
prophecy. Luke presents the ministry of Jesus as fulfilling Old Testament hopes
and expectations (Luke 7:22); for Luke, even Jesus' suffering, death, and resurrection are done in
fulfillment of the scriptures (Luke 24:25-27, 44-46; Acts 3:18).
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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.