Daily Reflection for Monday January 18, 2021
Peace and Blessings, Friends and Parishioners,
We encourage you to reflect on Monday’s readings at this link:
www.usccb.org/bible/readings/011821.cfm
If you prefer to use your own Bible, the readings are:
First Reading: Hebrews 5:1-10
Responsorial: Psalm 110:1,2,3,4
Gospel: Mark 2:18-22
Our reflection on Monday’s readings:
“He is able to deal gently with the ignorant and the erring, for he himself is beset by weakness.” Hebrews 5:2
Several years ago, my elementary-school-aged daughter and I attended a women-in-engineering event at Purdue. The students created a robotic hand that was strong enough to pick up an egg but gentle enough to grasp it without crushing the shell.
This balance of strength and gentleness is described in today’s letter to the Hebrews. Weakness is not a deficit in the high priests. Instead, it is because of their weakness and sin that they can minister to others. God called upon the high priests, as he called upon Christ, to empathize with others. Their pain and suffering enabled them to bring others closer to God.
Society places value on strength, power, firmness, bravery, and perseverance, but gentleness is not something to which people generally aspire. As a result, too many of us move about the world with cracked and broken shells. We shout down and condemn each other, firmly grasping our ideas and beliefs, when a gentler touch is needed to move us toward understanding.
Who or what in your life requires gentleness? Prayerfully consider how God may be calling you to be gentle with another person (or with yourself!), so you may be closer to Him.
May God’s Peace Be with You,
Trina Wurst