February 1, 2013

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Friday of the Third Week in Ordinary Time
Lectionary: 321

Reading 1 from the epistle of St. Paul to the Hebrews
Heb 10:32-39

Remember the days past when, after you had been enlightened, you endured a great contest of suffering.

Remember the suffering you endured after you were baptized?

At times you were publicly exposed to abuse and affliction; at other times you associated yourselves with those so treated.

Sometimes you were personally humiliated and attacked publically.  At other times, you came to the aid of your brethren who were being persecuted.

You even joined in the sufferings of those in prison and joyfully accepted the confiscation of your property, knowing that you had a better and lasting possession.

You remembered those of us who were suffering in prison and accepted with joy when your property was taken from you.  Knowing that a far better reward awaits you in heaven.

Therefore, do not throw away your confidence;
it will have great recompense.

Therefore, don't lose hope now.  You have come too far.

You need endurance to do the will of God and receive what he has promised.

To receive the Lord's promise, you must persevere to the end.

For, after just a brief moment,he who is to come shall come;he shall not delay.

 For God will not be long in coming.  

But my just one shall live by faith,and if he draws back I take no pleasure in him.

He who believes in God lives by faith and God will take no pleasure in him if he withdraws.

We are not among those who draw back and perish, but among those who have faith and will possess life.

But we are not among those who withdraw, but among those who persevere in faith and have life everlasting. 

Responsorial Psalm
Ps 37:3-4, 5-6, 23-24, 39-40

R. (39a) The salvation of the just comes from the Lord.

Trust in the LORD and do good,
that you may dwell in the land and be fed in security.
Take delight in the LORD,
and he will grant you your heart’s requests.

If you have faith in the Lord, you will obey His Commandments and act righteously.  And He will in turn, protect you.   If you take delight in and love the Lord, He will grant your heart's requests.

The assumption being that your heart's desire is to be united to the Lord.  If you claim to love the Lord but desire money, you don't really love the Lord, you love money.  Get it?

R. The salvation of the just comes from the Lord.

Commit to the LORD your way;
trust in him, and he will act.
He will make justice dawn for you like the light;
bright as the noonday shall be your vindication.

Turn to the Lord and change your ways.  That your ways may be His ways and put all your trust in Him.  And He will respond.  He will justify your soul and cleanse you from your sins and He shall be your recompense.

R. The salvation of the just comes from the Lord.

By the LORD are the steps of a man made firm,
and he approves his way.
Though he fall, he does not lie prostrate,
for the hand of the LORD sustains him.

It is by the grace of God that a man turns to Him and lives.  Though a just man falls, he will not remain down, for God will raise him up again.

R. The salvation of the just comes from the Lord.

The salvation of the just is from the LORD;
he is their refuge in time of distress.
And the LORD helps them and delivers them;
he delivers them from the wicked and saves them,
because they take refuge in him.

God saves the just who keep His commandments because they have taken refuge in Him.

R. The salvation of the just comes from the Lord.

God saves the righteous who keep His commandments.

The Holy Gospel according to St. Mark
Mk 4:26-34

Jesus said to the crowds:
“This is how it is with the Kingdom of God;
it is as if a man were to scatter seed on the land
and would sleep and rise night and day
and the seed would sprout and grow,
he knows not how.

Jesus said to the people.  My Father's kingdom is like a man who spreads his seed and the seed grows but the man knows not how it grows.

Of its own accord the land yields fruit,
first the blade, then the ear, then the full grain in the ear.  And when the grain is ripe, he wields the sickle at once, for the harvest has come.”

The farmer doesn't know how the grain grows, but when it is grown, he knows how to harvest it.

He said,
“To what shall we compare the Kingdom of God, or what parable can we use for it?
It is like a mustard seed that, when it is sown in the ground,  is the smallest of all the seeds on the earth.

To what can we compare my Fathers' kingdom?  It is like a mustard seed, the smallest of seeds.

But once it is sown, it springs up and becomes the largest of plants
and puts forth large branches,
so that the birds of the sky can dwell in its shade.”

But when it is grown, even the birds of the air make their nests in it.

With many such parables
he spoke the word to them as they were able to understand it.
Without parables he did not speak to them,
but to his own disciples he explained everything in private.

And Jesus used many such metaphors and riddles to speak to the people.  And without metaphors and riddles He did not speak to them.