Daily Retreat 01/09/07
2007 Jan 9 Tue: Ordinary Weekday
Heb 2: 5-12/ Ps 8: 2ab and 5. 6-7. 8-9/ Mk 1: 21-28
From todays readings: ...by the grace of God, He might taste death for everyone.... You have given Your Son rule over the works of Your hands.... The people were astonished at His teaching, for He taught them as one having authority and not as the scribes....
Mark His Words
For the Sunday readings, the Church observes a three year cycle, focusing in turn on each of the synoptic Gospels (Matthew, Mark, and Luke). So, this year, the Sunday readings are predominantly from St. Lukes Gospel.
The daily lectionary is structured differently. After Christmas season and the feast of the Baptism of the Lord, the daily Gospel readings start with Chapter One of St. Marks Gospel, which is then read sequentially until Lent and Easter, seasons which have proper readings selected in keeping with the theme of the liturgical times. After Pentecost, though, the daily lectionary returns to following the Gospel of St. Mark, then St. Matthews, and finally St. Lukes. Readings from the Gospel of St. John are interspersed throughout the year, particularly in the Easter season.
So todays reading recounts the Lords first miracle recorded in Marks Gospel - an exorcism. The focus, however, seems to be more on the phenomenon of the Lords new teaching with authority, which even the unclean spirits are seen to acknowledge.
Sometimes theres a temptation to overlook that in modern times - the fact that the Lord teaches with authority! Many today presume to adjudicate on biblical matters of all sorts, as if contemporary norms and standards somehow trumped the eternal teaching authority of the One to Whom, as the letter to the Hebrews reminds us, God has made all things subject!
Fr. Rory Pitstick
Our Lady of the Valley Parish
2511 N. Elmway
Okanogan WA 98840 USA
(509) 422-5049
"Illum oportet crescere, me autem minui." John 3:30
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posted by FrPitstick | 1/08/2007
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