Readings for Next Week:
Leviticus 13:1– 2, 44 – 46
Corinthians 10:31—11:1
Mark 1:40 – 45

SCRIPTURE REFLECTION
His words are dismal, but Job never really despairs. Read the whole book and you see that, despite undergoing trials, our hero perseveres, trusting God, knowing he can’t question God’s ways. Many commen-tators on today’s readings focus on Paul. It is tempting, because his call to be all to all is attractive and easier to dissect than Job’s solemn dirge. But there’s a reason why the First Reading is paired with the Gospel. Despair gets us in its clutches when we lose hope, and hope is lost when we forget who we are. Circumstances change: we’re up one day and down the next. What helps us survive is remembering who we are when we fall. When we remember, despite the circum-stances, that we are children of God — unique, beloved, and irreplaceable — we can survive. Jesus’ mission in the Gospel reminds us of our identity. Yes, he heals, but even he can’t cure all the sick of Galilee. Jesus is really less about healing the infirm and more about proclaiming the Kingdom that offers us our identity as sons and daughters of God. That’s why Jesus came, not to remove all troubles, but to remind us that God’s love can and will sustain us through the vicissitudes of life.

“Let us go on to the nearby villages that I may preach there also. For this purpose have I come” (Mark 1:38).

SHARING FAITH
Jesus often went off alone to a deserted place. Why do you think he had this need for solitude? Do you need it in your life? Do you make time for it?

LIVING THE LITURGY
You probably know someone who has lost hope and is in the grip of despair. Try to reach out to that person by reminding them of who they are, emphasizing their uniqueness and irreplaceability.

The Word to Go © 2011 Archdiocese of Chicago: Liturgy Training Publications.

As you are aware, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services announced last week that almost all employers, including Catholic employers, will be forced to offer their employees’ health coverage that includes sterilization, abortion-inducing drugs, and contraception. Almost all health insurers will be forced to include those “services” in the health policies they write. And almost all individuals will be forced to buy that coverage as a part of their policies.

We must call upon our people to pray that religious liberty will be stored. We must also ask them to tell Congress to pass legislation that would reverse the HHS mandate.

This weekend, please impress upon your people the seriousness of this situation and urge them to take action through an appeal from the pulpit and by making the attached letter available to them.

Thank you.

Sincerely yours in Christ,

Most Reverend Dennis M. Schnurr
Archbishop of Cincinnati

Learn more facts and how to contact congress at the USCCB web site

lsc

Readings for Next Week:
Job 7:1– 4, 6 –7
Corinthians 9:16 –19, 22 – 23
Mark 1:29 – 39

SCRIPTURE REFLECTION
Jesus amazes the people with his “authority.” His message differs from that of the scribes because he not only backs it up with signs (casting out demons), but its truth penetrates and quickens people’s hearts. God had promised Moses to send a prophet and to “put my words into his mouth” (Deuteronomy 18:18). Jesus is the ultimate fulfillment of that promise and the people sense it. This man can’t be ignored, they realize. Because God’s prophet does his bidding and speaks his word, God expects us to listen to him. In fact, God warns, we’ll have to answer for ignoring any words the prophet speaks in his name (Deuteronomy 18:19). Moses reminds the people they wanted an intermediary, someone less intimidating than the awesome God who spoke to them in fire and thunder at Sinai. The irony is that God’s ultimate intermediary is his own divine Son. Today’s crowd understands the need to listen to him. And Paul does, too — that’s why he endorses an “undivided” life. Paul isn’t denigrating marriage, but emphasizing the need to be attentive to God’s Word as spoken in Jesus. Anything that distracts us from that should be eliminated. Single people know it’s no easier for them to hear and obey the Lord than married people. They, too, must eliminate distractions from their lives. It takes an open heart to recognize “a new teaching with authority” (Mark 1:27), and a generous heart to make room for it.

“What is this? A new teaching with authority” (Mark 1:27).

SHARING FAITH
Have you become complacent about or hardened your hearts to some person or situation in your family, community, school, or workplace? If so, what can you do that you aren’t doing?

LIVING THE LITURGY
Baking cookies is a great accompaniment to discussion of softening hearts through love, caring, and sharing. If you don’t have heart-shaped cookie cutters or a desire to bake from scratch, purchase refrigerator dough, and mold hearts by hand. The final appearance isn’t important as long as there’s lots of love rolled in!

The Word to Go © 2011 Archdiocese of Chicago: Liturgy Training Publications.

Readings for Next Week:
Deuteronomy 18:15 – 20
Corinthians 7:32 – 35
Mark 1:21– 28

SCRIPTURE REFLECTION
In life, it may seem that it doesn’t always turn out that others listen and change their evil ways when confronted with the truth, or that people give up their families and livelihoods to follow God. We must be reading the Bible, because such things only happen there. Or do they? Each day men and women give up smoking, drinking, and drugs. Each day, unfaithful spouses repent and start again. And every day some generous souls join the Peace Corps, embrace religious life, or slip a ring onto another’s finger because they heard a voice that said, “Come after me.” It’s an insistent voice that voice we hear, and in today’s readings, it is full of urgency. The time is short, it says. Respond now, before it’s too late. The God who calls is full of forgiveness and of mercy, but we must reach out to take it. We must be willing to be changed, willing to give up what we enjoy and value, willing to repent of the ways of selfishness and pride. Remarkably, in the First Reading, it’s God who repents “of the evil that he had threatened to do” (Jonah 3:10). Now it’s our turn, for the world as we know it, whether we are aware of it or not, is passing away.

“This is the time of fulfillment. . . . Repent, and believe in the gospel” (Mark 1:15).

SHARING FAITH
The special vocation of the lay faithful is to bring the light of Christ into secular affairs, into situations where that illumination can be brought only by them. Where do you see others living and witnessing to their faith in the temporal world, and what daily opportunities do you have to do the same?

LIVING THE LITURGY
Make a conscious effort to forgive someone who has hurt you, someone you feel justified in holding at a distance. If your parish has a welcoming ministry for new parishioners, ask how your family can help. If not, offer to recruit help and begin one.

The Word to Go © 2011 Archdiocese of Chicago: Liturgy Training Publications.

Readings for Next Week:
1st Reading: Jonah 3:1– 5, 10
2nd Reading: Corinthians 7:29 – 31
Gospel: Mark 1:14 – 20

SCRIPTURE REFLECTION
We found __________! Fill in the blank: sunken treasure, a Picasso in the attic, a UFO, a gold mine. Even if Andrew had said as much to Peter, he would not have elicited any more excitement than he did by finishing the sentence with “the Messiah.” But the same words spoken to another might elicit little more than disbelief. Try announcing your find of sunken treasure or the Picasso in the attic and you might be answered, “Yeah, right.” Only a seeker, someone longing, can be stopped in his tracks and caught up in a dream that’s too good to be true. It didn’t take Eli and Samuel long to realize it was the Lord calling. Eli could say, “Your servant is listening” because he had been practicing listening to the Lord during all his days in the Temple with Eli. Much of life is rehearsal. We don’t know it at the time, we just do what we do. We make choices and follow patterns, and one day something really big happens and we’re ready. Whether it’s an emergency or an opportunity, we’re ready, we understand, we know what to do, and we do it while others panic or let the chance slip by. Andrew and Peter were ready for the coming of the Messiah. They had been rehearsing all their lives as they caught fish, mended nets, and went home for supper. Their hearts were ready for the miracle, and so they went to see.

“They said to him, ‘Rabbi . . . where are you staying?’ He said to them, ‘Come, and you will see’ ” (John 1:38 – 39).

SHARING FAITH
In today’s readings, Eli, John the Baptist, and the Apostle Andrew each help others recognize and respond to God’s call. Are you struggling with anything God is calling you to do? Is there someone who might help you discern and answer God’s call?

LIVING THE LITURGY
We can all help others find their destiny the way Andrew introduced Peter to his. As you go through the coming week, look for someone you can encourage to pursue a dream, project, trip, or adventure that you think would impact their future.

The Word to Go © 2011 Archdiocese of Chicago: Liturgy Training Publications