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| “St. Philip Neri author and date are UNKNOWN |
Readings and Commentary:[3]
Reading 1: James 5:13-20
Beloved:
Is anyone among you suffering?
He should pray.
Is anyone in good spirits?
He should sing a song of praise.
Is anyone among you sick?
He should summon the presbyters of
the Church,
and they should pray over him
and anoint him with oil in the name
of the Lord.
The prayer of faith will save the
sick person,
and the Lord will raise him up.
If he has committed any sins, he
will be forgiven.
Therefore, confess your sins to one
another
and pray for one another, that you
may be
healed. The fervent prayer of a
righteous person is very powerful.
Elijah was a man like us;
yet he prayed earnestly that it
might not rain,
and for three years and six months
it did not rain upon the land.
Then Elijah prayed again, and the
sky gave rain
and the earth produced its fruit.
My brothers and sisters,
if anyone among you should stray
from the truth
and someone bring him back,
he should know that whoever brings
back a sinner
from the error of his way will save
his soul from death
and will cover a multitude of sins.
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Commentary on Jas
5:13-20
St. James offers a treatise on the
power and need for prayer in the Christian Community. In the first instance he
addresses the power of healing, giving strong scriptural support for the
Sacrament of Anointing of the Sick (“…He should summon the presbyters of the
Church, and they should pray over him and anoint him with oil in the name of
the Lord”). This practice was also mentioned in Mark (see Mark 6:13), as the
Twelve anoint the sick on their missionary journey.
Next the author promotes the
confession of sins as part of this process (“If he has committed any sins,
he will be forgiven”), and, as a practice in general, part of the process
of coming before God in prayer. The concluding verses (19-20) speak of
reconciliation of those who have sinned and come back to the way of truth, and
the grace given to those who lead them back.
CCC: Jas 5:14-15 1510,
1511, 1526; Jas 5:14 1519; Jas
5:15 1519,
1520; Jas 5:16 2737; Jas
5:16b-18 2582; Jas
5:20 1434
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Responsorial Psalm: Psalm 141:1-2, 3 and 8
R. (2a) Let my prayer come
like incense before you.
O Lord, to you I call; hasten to
me;
hearken to my voice when I call
upon you.
Let my prayer come like incense
before you;
the lifting up of my hands, like
the evening sacrifice.
R. Let my prayer come like incense before you.
O Lord, set a watch before my mouth,
a guard at the door of my lips.
For toward you, O God, my Lord, my
eyes are turned;
in you I take refuge; strip me not
of life.
R. Let my prayer come like incense before you.
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Commentary on Ps
141:1-2, 3 and 8
Psalm 141 is an individual lament.
This part of the hymn supports the power of prayer, and the need for God’s
grace provided in answer to these pleas. The faith of the just will not be
rejected, and the salvation of God will be given to those who ask. See also the
remarks on Psalm 142.
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Gospel: Mark
10:13-16
People were bringing children to
Jesus that he might touch them,
but the disciples rebuked them.
When Jesus saw this he became
indignant and said to them,
“Let the children come to me; do
not prevent them,
for the Kingdom of God belongs to
such as these.
Amen, I say to you,
whoever does not accept the Kingdom
of God like a child
will not enter it.”
Then he embraced the children and
blessed them,
placing his hands on them.
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Commentary on Mk
10:13-16
The image of Jesus portrayed by
this passage demonstrates that those who had seen his works and heard his words
saw greatness in him. They brought their children to him instinctively, that
these little ones might receive the grace bestowed by his touch. This activity
made his disciples indignant. They felt that their master should not be
pestered by the children. The Lord, however, used this situation as a teaching
moment. Jesus told the crowd that only complete dependence upon God’s support
would allow them salvation (“…for the kingdom of God belongs to such as
these”).
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Reflection:
We
must, given the direction offered by Sacred Scripture, contemplate the need for,
and power of, prayer in our lives. If we
think about the relationship we hope to establish with God our Father and His
Son Jesus, we can use the relationships we build on earth as a worldly model.
When
we wish to get to know someone well, we speak with them, we ask them questions.
We hope that by speaking with them we can uncover who they are, where they were
from, how and where they grew up, and what they like and dislike. The more intensely we want this relationship,
the deeper and more intensely we talk to them, spending hours conversing about
all manner of things.
With
members of our own families, much of this discussion is not necessary since we
share a common history and life. Much of what we need to know we have learned
through long association. The love we
have for these family members is stimulated by our common desires, our common
experiences, and the deep understanding we build with them over time. A child knows the mind of their loving parent
so well that the worst thing they could contemplate is disappointing that
parent through actions they know would be against their wishes. Likewise the child knows, without question,
that if they are in trouble, their loving parent will do everything in their
power to rescue them from that situation.
And if that child falls ill, the loving parent does whatever they can to
see the child of their love is returned to health.
The
analogy comes so easily. If we wish to
know God, to build that relationship with him, prayer is one of our best
approaches. Much of who God is and what
he likes and does not like, we discover in the sacred texts of the Holy Bible. The deeper we delve into that treasure chest
of past experiences of God, the better we understand how to know him in our
lives. But God is not just a “historical
figure,” he is a living God who loves and cares for us. It is this present and living Trinity that we
want to know. So we talk to him. We tell him we love him, we honor him because
he deserves honor, and when we are in need, we ask for his help. We ask, confident as the child with a loving
parent, that he will do all he can to save us from our difficulty. He may show us the way, he may open a door,
and if all that is not enough and he wishes to demonstrate his love more
visibly, he may offer up a miracle. They
are more common than we know.
Today
we pray to know our loving Father better.
We thank him for all he has done for us and in a special way, we pray
for all those who are sick that through the Sacrament of Anointing, they might
be restored to health and oneness with our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
Pax
[2]
The picture today “St. Philip Neri, author and date are UNKNOWN
[3]
The readings are taken from the New American Bible with the exception of the
Psalm and its response which were developed by the International Committee for
English in Liturgy (ICEL). This
re-publication is not authorized by USCCB and is for private use only.
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