Gospel: January 21, 2025
January 21, 2025 (Tuesday)
2nd Week in Ordinary Time
Psalter: Week 2 / (Red)
St. Agnes, virgin & martyr
Ps 111:1-2, 4-5, 9 & 10c
The Lord will remember his covenant forever.
1st Reading: Hebrews 6:10-20
Gospel: Mark 2:23-28
One Sabbath he was walking through grain fields. As his disciples walked along with him, they began to pick the heads of grain and crush them in their hands. Then the Pharisees said to Jesus, “Look! They are doing what is forbidden on the Sabbath!” And he said to them, “Have you never read what David did in his time of need; when he and his men were very hungry? He went into the House of God, when Abiathar was High Priest, and ate; the bread of offering, which only the priests are allowed to eat, and he also gave some to the men who were with him.” Then Jesus said to them, “The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath. So, the Son of Man is master even of the Sabbath.”
Reflection:
“Hope is essential for our human existence.”
The contemporary French philosopher Rémi Brague says that the anchors of human existence are in the heavens. The image is loosely based on the ancient philosopher Plato, who said that man is like an upside-down tree, with its roots in the eternal. This upside-down theme is also presented to us in the Letter to the Hebrews, which declares that “the anchor of the soul” is our hope of eternal life and our hope in God. The anchor is made “steadfast” by Christ who has planted that anchor in the Sanctuary of Heaven, where he has entered as High Priest. A ship that has lost its anchor is in danger of running aground or being lost at sea. We need a solid point to hold onto in life, and that solid point is God himself. To forget that means that we are in danger of drifting with every current that comes our way, and our life starts to lose its purpose and beauty. Hope is essential for our human existence. We have many hopes and aspirations in life, but let’s make sure that they are all anchored in the greatest hope that is Christ.
