Monday, September 5, 2016

Monday, September 5 2016 Monday of the Twenty-third Week in Ordinary Time


Reading 1 1 Cor 5:1-8

Brothers and sisters:
It is widely reported that there is immorality among you,
and immorality of a kind not found even among pagans–
a man living with his father’s wife.
And you are inflated with pride.
Should you not rather have been sorrowful?
The one who did this deed should be expelled from your midst.
I, for my part, although absent in body but present in spirit,
have already, as if present,
pronounced judgment on the one who has committed this deed,
in the name of our Lord Jesus:
when you have gathered together and I am with you in spirit
with the power of the Lord Jesus,
you are to deliver this man to Satan
for the destruction of his flesh,
so that his spirit may be saved on the day of the Lord.

Your boasting is not appropriate. 
Do you not know that a little yeast leavens all the dough?
Clear out the old yeast, so that you may become a fresh batch of dough,
inasmuch as you are unleavened.
For our Paschal Lamb, Christ, has been sacrificed.
Therefore, let us celebrate the feast,
not with the old yeast, the yeast of malice and wickedness,
but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.

Responsorial Psalm Ps 5:5-6, 7, 12

R. (9) Lead me in your justice, Lord.
For you, O God, delight not in wickedness;
no evil man remains with you;
the arrogant may not stand in your sight.
You hate all evildoers.
R. Lead me in your justice, Lord.
You destroy all who speak falsehood;
The bloodthirsty and the deceitful
the LORD abhors.
R. Lead me in your justice, Lord.
But let all who take refuge in you
be glad and exult forever.
Protect them, that you may be the joy
of those who love your name.
R. Lead me in your justice, Lord.

Alleluia Jn 10:27

R. Alleluia, alleluia.
My sheep hear my voice, says the Lord;
I know them, and they follow me.
R. Alleluia, alleluia.

Gospel Lk 6:6-11

On a certain sabbath Jesus went into the synagogue and taught,
and there was a man there whose right hand was withered.
The scribes and the Pharisees watched him closely
to see if he would cure on the sabbath
so that they might discover a reason to accuse him.
But he realized their intentions
and said to the man with the withered hand,
“Come up and stand before us.”
And he rose and stood there.
Then Jesus said to them,
“I ask you, is it lawful to do good on the sabbath
rather than to do evil,
to save life rather than to destroy it?”
Looking around at them all, he then said to him,
“Stretch out your hand.”
He did so and his hand was restored.
But they became enraged
and discussed together what they might do to Jesus.

REFLECTION 

THE YEAST OF THE BRETHREN

"Do you not know that a little yeast has its effect all through the dough?" –1 Corinthians 5:6

Those who commit sin are like yeast which has its effect all through the Christian community. Therefore, we must: 

  • overcome temptations to sin so as not to hurt ourselves and others, 
  • repent and go to Confession as soon as possible if we have sinned, 
  • forgive those who are sinning and are thereby hurting themselves and our community, 
  • be ministers of reconciliation (2 Cor 5:18) by praying for those who have sinned (1 Jn 5:16), correcting them (Lk 17:3; Mt 18:15; Ez 3:18; 33:7), and leading them to repentance, 
  • be careful that we ourselves are not conditioned by the sinful (see Jude 23), 
  • rescue those being corrupted by the yeast of the sinful (see Jude 22), and 
  • give everything we have for God's kingdom so as to be yeast that raises the world (Mt 13:33). 

"Christ our Passover has been sacrificed. Let us celebrate the feast not with the old yeast, that of corruption and wickedness, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth" (1 Cor 5:7-8).

PRAYER: Father, give me a great love for sinners and therefore a great hate for sin.
PROMISE: Jesus "looked around at them all and said to the man, 'Stretch out your hand.' The man did so and his hand was perfectly restored." –Lk 6:10
PRAISE: Anna listened to both brother and sister who held differing views and was a conduit for their reconciliation.

No comments:

Post a Comment