Daily Reflection for Friday January 15 ,2021
Peace and Blessings, Friends and Parishioners,
We encourage you to reflect on Friday’s readings at this link:
https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/011521.cfm
If you prefer to use your own Bible, the readings are:
Reading: Hebrews 4:1-5,11
Responsorial :Psalms 78:3-4,6-8
Gospel: Mark 2:1-12
Our reflection on Friday’s reading:
“Do not forget the works of the Lord” Psalms 78:7
The responsorial psalm captured my attention today. “Do not forget the works of the Lord.” We just finished with the hopeful season of Advent, the joyful season of Christmas and the awe and wonder of Epiphany. How is it possible that we need a reminder to not forget the works of our Lord?
As I reflect on my behavior throughout the year, I find it much easier to evangelize my faith during these “special” periods of our liturgical calendar than those in ordinary time. Perhaps it is the “props” that we use during these special periods that help fuel questions about our faith like an Advent wreath or nativity scene. After all, the “reason for the season” is Jesus - the light of the world - entering our midst.
But today, all the readings call me to be a ready witness for Jesus in the thirty-four weeks of “ordinary” time as well. I am told in the first reading to receive Christ’s words and learn from them. “Do not forget the works of the Lord.”
The gospel provides a powerful image of believers going to great lengths to literally bring a paralytic to Christ by lowering him through a roof as all other ways were blocked to get close to Christ. Sadly, I think that I am more like the people that crowded into the home in Capernaum to listen to Jesus than the men that broke through a roof to introduce a paralyzed man to Jesus. I believe there is a time for listening and there is a time for doing. However, when the listeners out-number the doers and just get in their way, I believe that Jesus wants our hands and feet to bring others to him. Do not forget the works of the Lord!
Let us make our year of “ordinary” time, extraordinary! Like those men in today’s gospel, let us bring others to Jesus.
Do not forget the works of the Lord!
Paul Gunn