The Word today, 5C
- Admin
- Feb 7
- 3 min read
Updated: Mar 15
February 10 - February 15, 2025
St Scholastica, virgin
Genesis 1:1-19 Think of some beautiful experience of the night sky as you hear this great reading. As we look up and contemplate the age and distance of the stars, we can feel very small. And yet, the creator God is also our father, Abba.
Mark 6:53-56 The Gospel of Mark is told in an urgent, breathless style. Today we hear one of those compressed summaries, capturing the popularity of Jesus among the sick.
Our Lady of Lourdes
Genesis 1:20-2:4 This is the second part of yesterday’s reading: the whole story of creation. When you hear that we humans are in made in the image and likeness of God, how do you feel?
Mark 7:1-13 Before we plunge into a condemnation of the shallowness of the Pharisees, it is worth remembering that the rules were designed to bring an experience of God’s presence into the everyday. Of course, it can become obsessive and pointless—features not unknown in the churches’ various devotions! Jesus is sharp in his response, but not any sharper than many of the prophets of old.
Genesis 2:4-9, 15-17 This is the second creation story—very different from the rst. God is much more “hands on,” as we say, and Adam is created at the very start. The journey of this creation story is one we all make: from original innocence to knowledge and responsibility, alienation and guilt.
Mark 7:14-23 This kind of spiritual teaching is found in many traditions, including Judaism. The shock is declaring all foods clean. This is a logical consequence of the Jesus’ open table-fellowship but the clarity of the teaching most likely comes from the controversies of the early church. The teaching about the heart goes to the heart of the matter.
Genesis 3:1-8 Loss of innocence and the discovery of shame are the experience of us all. We may even recognise in ourselves the tendency to pass the blame. Even so, within all this familiarity, there is the serpent — symbol of evil already there before we are born.
Mark 7:31-37 This story may also be a follow-through on the Syrophoenician woman. Here a man is enabled to hear and speak. At Mark’s spiritual level, this means to hear the Good News and proclaim the Gospel. All of us are that man.
Sts Cyril, monk, and Metodius, bishop; patrons of Europe
Acts 13:46-49 Our reading is suitable for the feast because it shows us the motivation of two apostles, as they turn to the Gentiles. Cyril and Methodius were likewise apostles to the Slav peoples.
Luke 10:1-9 The sending of the seventy-two was an extension of ministry of Jesus which anticipated the wider sending to the Gentiles in the Acts of the Apostles. It is, therefore, very suitable for the feast. We too today are called to take the Gospel beyond our own circles and, in the current phrase, beyond our comfort zones.
Genesis 3:9-24 As noted, the primordial history in Genesis is partly responding to puzzles in human experience, such as why is it painful to have a baby, why is work so hard, why do we sweat? The more mysterious phrase about the serpent points to evil not having the last word.
Mark 8:1-10 This passage must be read in the light of Mark’s Gospel itself. The writer is forcing us, the readers, to think about the double miracle of the loaves. One was in Jewish territory with references to Moses. The other was in Gentile territory with references to Elijah. The context is a mixed community of Jews and Gentiles. Unless you recognize that Jesus is the “bread of life” equally for both, you have no idea who he is.
References
-United States Conference of Catholic Bishops. (2025l, February 9). Fifth Sunday in ordinary time. USCCB. https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/020925.cfm
-Sunday readings. (n.d.-s). Hearers of the Word. https://www.tarsus.ie/SundayReadings/
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