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Monday, February 11, 2013

February 12, 2013


Tuesday of the Fifth Week in Ordinary Time

Also known as Fat Tuesday and it goes by a variety of names.  Read more about this ancient tradition once known as Shrovetide.

Lectionary: 330


Reading 1 from the Holy Book of Genesis
Gn 1:20—2:4a

God said,
“Let the water teem with an abundance of living creatures,
and on the earth let birds fly beneath the dome of the sky.”
And so it happened:
God created the great sea monsters
and all kinds of swimming creatures with which the water teems,
and all kinds of winged birds.
God saw how good it was, and God blessed them, saying,
“Be fertile, multiply, and fill the water of the seas;
and let the birds multiply on the earth.”
Evening came, and morning followed–the fifth day.
Then God called life to begin in the waters.  Simultaneously, it seems, God called the air above the waters to teem with life also.

Then God said,
“Let the earth bring forth all kinds of living creatures:
cattle, creeping things, and wild animals of all kinds.”
And so it happened:
God made all kinds of wild animals, all kinds of cattle,
and all kinds of creeping things of the earth.
God saw how good it was.
 Then God called life to begin on the dry land.
Then God said:
“Let us make man in our image, after our likeness.
Let them have dominion over the fish of the sea,
the birds of the air, and the cattle,
and over all the wild animals
and all the creatures that crawl on the ground.”
God created man in his image;
in the divine image he created him;
male and female he created them.
God blessed them, saying:
“Be fertile and multiply;
fill the earth and subdue it.
Have dominion over the fish of the sea, the birds of the air,
and all the living things that move on the earth.”
God also said:
“See, I give you every seed-bearing plant all over the earth
and every tree that has seed-bearing fruit on it to be your food;
and to all the animals of the land, all the birds of the air,
and all the living creatures that crawl on the ground,
I give all the green plants for food.”
And so it happened.
God looked at everything he had made, and he found it very good.
Evening came, and morning followed–the sixth day.
Last of all, God created man, as though born out of time, the least of all creation. And yet God gave mankind, dominion over all creation.

Thus the heavens and the earth and all their array were completed.
Since on the seventh day God was finished with the work he had been doing,
he rested on the seventh day from all the work he had undertaken.
So God blessed the seventh day and made it holy,
because on it he rested from all the work he had done in creation.
Such is the story of the heavens and the earth at their creation.
And on the seventh day, God rested.  So God made the seventh day the day of Covenant.  A holy day always to be remembered. 

Responsorial Psalm Ps 8:4-5, 6-7, 8-9

R. (2ab) O Lord, our God, how wonderful your name in all the earth!
When I behold your heavens, the work of your fingers,
the moon and the stars which you set in place—
What is man that you should be mindful of him,
or the son of man that you should care for him?
R. O Lord, our God, how wonderful your name in all the earth!
God, when I see what you have done, I wonder why you give mankind any consideration?

You have made him little less than the angels,
and crowned him with glory and honor.
You have given him rule over the works of your hands,
putting all things under his feet.
R. O Lord, our God, how wonderful your name in all the earth!
You have made men just a little bit below the angels.  You have given us mankind splendor above all your creatures

All sheep and oxen,
yes, and the beasts of the field,
The birds of the air, the fishes of the sea,
and whatever swims the paths of the seas.
R. O Lord, our God, how wonderful your name in all the earth!
 and command over all your work on earth. 


Gospel according to St. Mark
Mk 7:1-13

When the Pharisees with some scribes who had come from Jerusalem
gathered around Jesus,
they observed that some of his disciples ate their meals
with unclean, that is, unwashed, hands.
(For the Pharisees and, in fact, all Jews,
do not eat without carefully washing their hands,
keeping the tradition of the elders.
The Pharisees noticed that the students of Jesus Christ did not wash their hands before eating.

And on coming from the marketplace
they do not eat without purifying themselves.
And there are many other things that they have traditionally observed,
the purification of cups and jugs and kettles and beds.)
So the Pharisees and scribes questioned him,
So, they questioned Jesus on this matter.

“Why do your disciples not follow the tradition of the elders
but instead eat a meal with unclean hands?”
Why don't your students follow the traditions of the Jews?

He responded,
“Well did Isaiah prophesy about you hypocrites,
as it is written:
This people honors me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me; in vain do they worship me, teaching as doctrines human precepts.
You disregard God’s commandment but cling to human tradition.” 
Jesus responded with a quote from Isaiah, the Prophet:

You honor God with your mouths, but your heart is not with God.
Your worship is without merit.
You teach doctrines of men and ignore the Teachings of God.

He went on to say,
“How well you have set aside the commandment of God
in order to uphold your tradition!
For Moses said,
Honor your father and your mother,and Whoever curses father or mother shall die.Yet you say,
‘If someone says to father or mother,
“Any support you might have had from me is qorban”’
(meaning, dedicated to God),
you allow him to do nothing more for his father or mother.
You nullify the word of God
in favor of your tradition that you have handed on.
And you do many such things.”
Jesus went on to explain.  The commandment of God says that you must honor your father and mother.  But you get around that commandment saying, "Anything that I dedicate to God is forbidden to anyone else."  Thus, you nullify God's commandments.  Keeping for yourself that which you claim to set aside for God and denying it to your parents whom God says you should honor.

And you do many other things with this wrong intention to satisfy your greed and ignore the Word of God.

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