February
4, 2016
Thursday
of the Fourth Week in Ordinary Time
Reading 1
1When
the time of David’s death drew near, he
gave these instructions to his son Solomon:[1] 2“I
am going the way of all flesh. Take
courage and be a man.
3Keep
the mandate of the LORD, your God, following His ways and
observing His statutes, commands, ordinances, and decrees as
they are written in the law of Moses, that
you may succeed in whatever you do, wherever
you turn, 4and the LORD may fulfill the
promise He made on my behalf when He said, ‘If
your sons so conduct themselves that
they remain faithful to Me with their whole heart and
with their whole soul, you
shall always have someone of your line on
the throne of Israel.’”
10David
rested with his ancestors and was buried in the City of David. 11The
length of David’s reign over Israel was forty years: he
reigned seven years in Hebron
and
thirty-three years in Jerusalem.
12Solomon
was seated on the throne of his father David, with
his sovereignty firmly established.
Responsorial Psalm
10“Blessed
may you be, O LORD, God
of Israel our father, from
eternity to eternity.”
R.
Lord, you are exalted over all.
11a“Yours,
O LORD, are grandeur and power, majesty,
splendor, and glory.”
R.
Lord, you are exalted over all.
11b“LORD,
you are exalted over all. 11cYours,
O LORD, is the sovereignty; 11dyou
are exalted as head over all. 12aRiches
and honor are from you.”
R.
Lord, you are exalted over all.
12c“In
your hand are power and might; 12dit
is yours to give grandeur and strength to all.”
R.
Lord, you are exalted over all.
R.
Alleluia, alleluia.
The
Kingdom of God is at hand; repent
and believe in the Gospel.
R.
Alleluia, alleluia.
Gospel
7Jesus
summoned the Twelve and began to send them out two by two and
gave them authority over unclean spirits.[2]
8He instructed them to take nothing for the journey but a walking stick –no
food, no sack, no money in their belts.[3]
9They were, however, to wear sandals but not a second tunic.
10He
said to them, “Wherever you enter a house, stay there until you leave from
there.[4]
11Whatever place does not welcome you or listen to you, leave there and shake
the dust off your feet in testimony against them.”
12So
they went off and preached repentance. The Twelve drove out many demons, and
they anointed with oil many who were sick and cured them.
Notes on Readings:
[1] 1 Kings 2:1-6,8-9 - Solomon is expected to remove from his
father's family the imputation of blood guilt brought upon it by Joab in the
unwarranted killings of Abner (2 Samuel 3:27-29 and Amasa ( 2 Samuel 19:9-10; and likewise to punish Shimei for his curse, the
effects of which David had pledged himself not to avenge in person (2 Samuel 19:21-23). The standards of morality presumed in these verses are
far from the Christian ones.
[2] Mark 6:7-13 - The preparation for the
mission of the Twelve is seen in the call (1) of the first disciples to be
fishers of men (Mark 1:16-20), (2) then of the Twelve set apart to be with Jesus and
to receive authority to preach and expel demons (Mark 3:13-19). Now they are given the specific mission to exercise
that authority in word and power as representatives of Jesus during the time of
their formation.
[3] Mark 6:8-9 - In Mark the use of a walking stick (Mark 6:8 and sandals (Mark 6:9) is permitted, but not in Matthew 10:10 nor in Luke 10:4. Mark does not mention any prohibition to visit pagan
territory and to enter Samaritan towns. These differences indicate a certain
adaptation to conditions in and outside of Palestine and suggest in Mark's
account a later activity in the church. For the rest, Jesus required of His
apostles a total dependence on God for food and shelter; compare with Mark 6:35-44; 8:1-9.
[4] Mark 6:10-11 - Remaining in the same
house as a guest (Mark 6:10) rather than moving to another offering greater comfort
avoided any impression of seeking advantage for oneself and prevented dishonor
to one's host. Shaking the dust off one's feet served as testimony against
those who rejected the call to repentance.
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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.