Lectionary: 433
Reading 1
1 cor 3:1-9
Brothers and sisters,
I could not talk to you as spiritual people,
but as fleshly people, as infants in Christ.
I fed you milk, not solid food,
because you were unable to take it.
Indeed, you are still not able, even now,
for you are still of the flesh.
While there is jealousy and rivalry among you,
are you not of the flesh, and walking
according to the manner of man?
Whenever someone says, “I belong to Paul,” and another,
“I belong to Apollos,” are you not merely men?
What is Apollos, after all, and what is Paul?
Ministers through whom you became believers,
just as the Lord assigned each one.
I planted, Apollos watered, but God caused the growth.
Therefore, neither the one who plants nor the one who waters is anything,
but only God, who causes the growth.
He who plants and he who waters are one,
and each will receive wages in proportion to his labor.
For we are God’s co-workers;
you are God’s field, God’s building.
Responsorial Psalm
ps 33:12-13, 14-15, 20-21
R. (12) Blessed the people the Lord has chosen to be his own.
Blessed the nation whose God is the LORD,
the people he has chosen for his own inheritance.
From heaven the LORD looks down;
he sees all mankind.
R. Blessed the people the Lord has chosen to be his own.
From his fixed throne he beholds
all who dwell on the earth,
He who fashioned the heart of each,
he who knows all their works.
R. Blessed the people the Lord has chosen to be his own.
Our soul waits for the LORD,
who is our help and our shield,
For in him our hearts rejoice;
in his holy name we trust.
R. Blessed the people the Lord has chosen to be his own.
Gospel
lk 4:38-44
After Jesus left the synagogue, he entered the house of Simon.
Simon’s mother-in-law was afflicted with a severe fever,
and they interceded with him about her.
He stood over her, rebuked the fever, and it left her.
She got up immediately and waited on them.
At sunset, all who had people sick with various diseases
brought them to him.
He laid his hands on each of them and cured them.
And demons also came out from many, shouting, “You are the Son of God.”
But he rebuked them and did not allow them to speak
because they knew that he was the Christ.
At daybreak, Jesus left and went to a deserted place.
The crowds went looking for him, and when they came to him,
they tried to prevent him from leaving them.
But he said to them, “To the other towns also
I must proclaim the good news of the Kingdom of God,
because for this purpose I have been sent.”
And he was preaching in the synagogues of Judea.
REFLECTION
SOURCE: One Bread One Body
THEME: EATING FROM THE KIDS' MENU
"The trouble was that I could not talk to you as spiritual men but only as men of flesh, as infants in Christ." –1 Corinthians 3:1
Far too many Christians are "infants in Christ," men and women "of flesh" (1 Cor 3:1). There is plenty of evidence that convicts: four thousand surgical abortions daily in the USA, and likely even more daily chemical abortions. Christians can't stop abortion, can't get pornography off prime-time TV, can't slow down the flood of drug abuse, and can't even get governments to define marriage as the union of one man and one woman. Christian soldiers can't dispel the kingdom of darkness. Are these results worthy of the army of Christ, the King of kings?
"Although by this time you should be teaching others, you need to have someone teach you again the basic elements of the oracles of God; you need milk, not solid food. Everyone whose food is milk alone is ignorant of the word that sanctifies, for he is a child" (Heb 5:12-13). "I fed you with milk, and did not give you solid food because you were not ready for it. You are not ready for it even now, being still very much in a natural condition" (1 Cor 3:2-3). Repent of any role you may have played in stunting the growth of the Body of Christ.
Abide in God's Word (Jn 8:31). Let it make you capable of digesting God's meat to make you "grow to the full maturity of Christ the Head" (Eph 4:15). If so many of us weren't spiritual infants, we could obey God, rise up, and quickly crush Satan under our feet (Rm 16:20). Ours could be a holy nation in God (1 Pt 2:9).
PRAYER: Lord, may I make Your Word my home (Jn 8:31). Make me and many in our nation able to eat the meat of advanced teaching (1 Cor 3:2; Heb 5:12-14). May our nation choose holiness.
PROMISE: "Happy the nation whose God is the Lord." –Ps 33:12
PRAISE: Pope St. Gregory had been a monk for fifteen years before being called to the papacy. He proved trustworthy by providing order to the Church in chaotic times.
Be an inspiration, kindly Share.
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