Bible Diary for February 14 – 20

February 14
Sunday

6th Sunday in Ordinary Time

1st Reading: Jer 17:5–8
This is what Yahweh says, “Cursed is the man who trusts in human beings and depends on a mortal for his life, while his heart is drawn away from Yahweh! He is like a bunch of thistles in dry land, in parched desert places, in a salt land where no one lives and who never finds happiness.

“Blessed is the man who puts his trust in Yahweh and whose confidence is in him! He is like a tree planted by the water, sending out its roots towards the stream.

“He has no fear when the heat comes, his leaves are always green; the year of drought is no problem and he can always bear fruit.”

2nd Reading: 1 Cor 15:12, 16–20
If Christ is preached as risen from the dead, how can some of you say that there is no resurrection of the dead?

If the dead are not raised, neither has Christ been raised. And if Christ has not been raised, your faith gives you nothing, and you are still in sin. Also those who fall asleep in Christ are lost. If it is only for this life that we hope in Christ, we are the most unfortunate of all people.

But no, Christ has been raised from the dead and he comes before all those who have fallen asleep.

Gospel: Lk 6:17, 20–26
Coming down the hill with them, Jesus stood on a level place. Many of his disciples were there and a large crowd of people who had come from all parts of Judea and Jerusalem and from the coastal cities of Tyre and Sidon.

Then looking at his disciples, Jesus said, “Fortunate are you who are poor, the kingdom of God is yours. Fortunate are you who are hungry now, for you will be filled. Fortunate are you who weep now, for you will laugh. Fortunate are you when people hate you, when they reject you and insult you and number you among criminals, because of the Son of Man. Rejoice in that day and leap for joy, for a great reward is kept for you in heaven. Remember that is how the ancestors of this people treated the prophets.

But alas for you who have wealth, for you have been comforted now. Alas for you who are full, for you will go hungry. Alas for you who laugh now, for you will mourn and weep. Alas for you when people speak well of you, for that is how the ancestors of these people treated the false prophets.

Commentary
“The Kingdom of God will not come in such a way as to be seen….because the Kingdom of God is within you.”

The world changes only when we change. Life becomes better for everyone when we ourselves are living well. The presence of God for everyone depends on the presence of God in us.

February 15
Monday

6th Week in Ordinary Time

1st Reading: Jas 1:1–11
James, a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ, sends greetings to the twelve tribes scattered among the nations.

Consider yourselves fortunate, my brothers and sisters, when you meet with every kind of trial, for you know that the testing of your faith makes you steadfast. Let your steadfastness become perfect with deeds, that you yourselves may be perfect and blame-less, without any defect.

If any of you is lacking in wisdom, ask God who gives to all easily and unconditionally. But ask with faith, not doubting, for the one who doubts is like a wave driven and tossed on the sea by the wind. Such a person should not expect anything from the Lord, since the doubter has two minds and his conduct will always be insecure.

Let the believer who is poor boast in been uplifted, and let the rich one boast in being humbled, because he will pass away like the flower of the field. The sun rises and its heat dries the grass; the flower withers and its beauty vanishes. So, too, will the rich person fade away even in the midst of his pursuits.

Gospel: Mk 8:11–13
The Pharisees came and started to argue with Jesus. Hoping to embarrass him, they asked for some heavenly sign. Then his spirit was moved. He gave a deep sigh and said, “Why do the people of this present time ask for a sign? Truly, I say to you, no sign shall be given to this people.” Then he left them, got into the boat again and went to the other side of the lake.

Commentary
“To trap him, the Pharisees asked Jesus to perform a miracle to prove that God approved of Him.”

Faith is the awareness that the life and energy and power of God is with us in darkness as well as in light. It is not the notion that God is a magic act meant to shape life to our likeness.

February 16
Tuesday

6th Week in Ordinary Time

1st Reading: Jas 1:12–18
Happy are those who patiently endure trials, because afterwards they will receive the crown of life which the Lord promised to those who love him. No one, when tempted, should say, “This temptation comes from God.” God is never tempted and he can never tempt anyone. Instead, each of us is lured and enticed by our own evil desire. Once this desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin, and sin, when fully grown, gives birth to death. 

Do not be deceived, my beloved. Every good and perfect gift comes from above, from the Father of Light, in whom there is no change or shadow of a change. By his own will he gave us life through the Word of Truth, that we might be a kind of offering to him among his creatures.

Gospel: Mk 8:14–21
The disciples had forgotten to bring more bread and had only one loaf with them in the boat. Then Jesus warned them, “Keep your eyes open and beware of the yeast of the Pharisees and the yeast of Herod.” And they said to one another, “He saw that we have no bread.”

Aware of this, Jesus asked them, “Why are you talking about the loaves you are short of? Do you not see or understand? Are your minds closed? Have you eyes that don’t see and ears that don’t hear? And do you not remember when I broke the five loaves among five thousand? How many baskets full of leftovers did you collect?” They answered, “Twelve.” “And having seven loaves for the four thousand, how many wicker baskets of leftovers did you collect?” They answered, “Seven.” Then Jesus said to them, “Do you still not understand?”

Commentary
“‘Take care, Jesus warned them, ‘and be on your guard against the yeast of the Pharisees and the yeast of Herod.’”

In order to grow spiritually it is necessary to nourish ourselves on the right spiritual food. It is the life and teachings of Jesus that must be our guide, however commanding other institutions or leaders around us may seem at the time.

February 17
Wednesday

Ash Wednesday

1st Reading: Jl 2:12–18
Yahweh says, “Yet even now, return to me with your whole heart, with fasting, weeping and mourning. Rend your heart, not your garment. Return to Yahweh, your God—gracious and compassionate.”

Yahweh is slow to anger, full of kindness, and he repents of having punished.

Who knows? Probably he will relent once more and spare some part of the harvest from which we may bring sacred offerings to Yahweh, your God.

Blow the trumpet in Zion, proclaim a sacred fast, call a solemn assembly.

Gather the people, sanctify the community, bring together the elders, even the children and infants at the breast. Let the bridegroom leave his bed, and the bride her room.

Between the vestibule and the altar, let the priests, Yahweh’s ministers, weep and say: Spare your people, Yahweh. Do not humble them or make them an object of scorn among the nations. Why should it be said among the peo¬ples: Where is their God?

Yahweh has become jealous for his land; he has had pity on his people.

2nd Reading: 2 Cor 5:20–6:2
So we present ourselves as ambassadors in the name of Christ, as if God himself makes an appeal to you through us. Let God reconcile you; this we ask you in the name of Christ. He had no sin, but God made him bear our sin, so that in him we might share the holiness of God.

Being God’s helpers we beg you: let it not be in vain that you received this grace of God. Scripture says: At the favorable time I listened to you, on the day of salvation I helped you. This is the favorable time, this is the day of salvation.

Gospel: Mt 6:1–6, 16–18
Jesus said to his disciples, “Be careful not to make a show of your righteousness before people. If you do so, you do not gain anything from your Father in heaven. When you give something to the poor, do not have it trumpeted before you, as do those who want to be seen in the synagogues and in the streets in order to be praised by the people. I assure you, they have been already paid in full.

“If you give something to the poor, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, so that your gift remains really secret. Your Father who sees what is kept secret, will reward you.

“When you pray, do not be like those who want to be seen. They love to stand and pray in the synagogues or on street corners to be seen by everyone. I assure you, they have already been paid in full. When you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father who is with you in secret; and your Father who sees what is kept secret will reward you.

“When you fast, do not put on a miserable face as do the hypocrites. They put on a gloomy face, so people can see they are fasting. I tell you this: they have been paid in full already. When you fast, wash your face and make yourself look cheerful, because you are not fasting for appearances or for people, but for your Father who sees beyond appearances. And your Father, who sees what is kept secret will reward you.”

Commentary
“And your Father, who sees what you do in private, will reward you.”

The spiritual life is meant to be an adventure between the soul and God. It is not an act of religion played out in front of the world in order to impress the world. It is, instead, the deepest relationship in life, the one on which the very meaning of life depends.

February 18
Thursday

Thursday After Ash Wednesday 

1st Reading: Dt 30:15–20
See, I set before you on this day life and good, evil and death. I command you to love Yahweh, your God and follow his ways. Observe his commandments, his norms and his laws, and you will live and increase, and Yahweh will give you his blessing in the land you are going to possess. But if your heart turns away and does not listen, if you are drawn away and bow before other gods to serve them, I declare on this day that you shall perish. You shall not last in the land you are going to occupy on the other side of the Jordan.

Let the heavens and the earth listen, that they may be witnesses against you. I have set before you life and death, blessing and curse. Therefore, choose life that you and your descendants may live,  loving Yahweh, listening to his voice, and being one with him. In this is life for you and length of days in the land which Yahweh swore to give to your ancestors, to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.”

Gospel: Lk 9:22–25
Jesus said, “The Son of Man must suffer many things. He will be rejected by the elders and chief priests and teachers of the Law, and put to death. Then after three days he will be raised to life.”

Jesus also said to all the people, “If you wish to be a follower of mine, deny yourself and take up your cross each day, and follow me. For if you choose to save your life, you will lose it, and if you lose your life for my sake, you will save it. What does it profit you to gain the whole world while you destroy or damage yourself?”

Commentary
“If you lose your life for my sake, you will save it.”

To follow Jesus, to live a Christian life, costs. It means that we will see life differently than others do, we will live life differently than most, we will be regarded with misgiving by many. But in the end, we will have lived life in harmony with the entire cosmos.

February 19
Friday

Friday After Ash Wednesday

1st Reading: Is 58:1–9a
Cry out aloud for all you are worth; raise your voice like a trumpet blast; tell my people of their offenses, Jacob’s family of their sins.

Is it true that they seek me day after day, longing to know my ways, as a people that does what is right and has not forsaken the word of its God? They want to know the just laws and not to drift away from their God.

“Why are we fasting,” they complain, “and you do not even see it? We are doing penance and you never notice it.” Look, on your fast days you push your trade and you oppress your laborers.

Yes, you fast but end up quarreling, striking each other with wicked blows. Fasting as you do will not make your voice heard on high. Is that the kind of fast that pleases me, just a day to humble oneself? Is fasting merely bowing down one’s head, and making use of sackcloth and ashes?

Would you call that fasting, a day acceptable to Yahweh? See the fast that pleases me: breaking the fetters of injustice and unfastening the thongs of the yoke, setting the oppressed free and breaking every yoke.

Fast by sharing your food with the hungry, bring to your house the homeless, clothe the one you see naked and do not turn away from your own kin. Then will your light break forth as the dawn and your healing come in a flash.

Your righteousness will be your vanguard, the Glory of Yahweh your rearguard. Then you will call and Yahweh will answer, you will cry and he will say, I am here.

Gospel: Mt 9:14–15
The disciples of John came to Jesus with the question, “How is it that we and the Pharisees fast on many occasions, but not your disciples?”

Jesus answered them, “How can you expect wedding guests to mourn as long as the bridegroom is with them? Time will come when the bridegroom will be taken away from them, then they will fast.”

Commentary
“The followers of John the Baptist came to Jesus asking, ‘Why is it that we and the Pharisees fast often but your disciples don’t fast at all?’”

The function of religion is not to make life miserable. It is to teach us to live life well, to enable us to respond to every different moment in ways proper to that moment: often with joy, sometimes with renewed commitment to begin again to live life as God means us to live it.

February 20
Saturday

Saturday after Ash Wednesday

1st Reading: Is 58:9b–14
Thus says the Lord: Then you will call and Yahweh will answer, you will cry and he will say, I am here. If you remove from your midst the yoke, the clenched fist and the wicked word, if you share your food with the hungry and give relief to the oppressed, then your light will rise in the dark, your night will be like noon.

Yahweh will guide you always and give you relief in desert places. He will strengthen your bones; he will make you as a watered garden, like a spring of water whose waters never fail. Your ancient ruins will be rebuilt, the age-old foundations will be raised. You will be called the Breach-mender, and the Restorer of ruined houses.

If you stop profaning the sabbath and doing as you please on the holy day, if you call the sabbath a day of delight and keep sacred Yahweh’s holy day, if you honor it by not going your own way, not doing as you please and not speaking with malice, then you will find happiness in Yahweh, over the heights you will ride triumphantly, and feast joyfully on the inheritance of your father Jacob. The mouth of Yahweh has spoken.

Gospel: Lk 5:27–32
Jesus noticed a tax collector named Levi sitting in the tax-office, he said to him, “Follow me.” So Levi, leaving everything, got up and followed Jesus.

Levi gave a great feast for Jesus, and many tax collectors came to his house and took their place at table with the other people. Then the Pharisees and their fellow teachers complained to Jesus’ disciples, “How is it that you eat and drink with tax collectors and other sinners?” But Jesus spoke up, “Healthy people don’t need a doctor, but sick people do. I have come to call to repentance; I call sinners, not the righteous.”

Commentary
(Jesus said) “There were many people suffering from a dreaded skin disease at the time of the prophet Elisha, yet not one of them was cured but only Naaman the Syrian.”

It is who we become in the deepest part of us, not who we are outside–meaning our connections, our race, our gender, even our religion–that counts in the end. It is the one in whom Jesus most clearly sees himself who will be wrapped in the saving love of God.