Fri (Dec 11) Mass readings (Blessed is the man who does not keep company with sinners / people try to control Jesus?)

[distracted]

December 11, 2009

Friday of the Second Week of Advent Lectionary: 185

Reading 1
Is 48:17-19

Thus says the LORD, your redeemer,
the Holy One of Israel:
I, the LORD, your God,
teach you what is for your good,
and lead you on the way you should go.
If you would hearken to my commandments,
your prosperity would be like a river,
and your vindication like the waves of the sea;
Your descendants would be like the sand,
and those born of your stock like its grains,
Their name never cut off
or blotted out from my presence.

Responsorial Psalm
Ps 1:1-2, 3, 4 and 6

R. (see John 8:12) Those who follow you, Lord, will have the light of life.
Blessed the man who follows not
the counsel of the wicked
Nor walks in the way of sinners,
nor sits in the company of the insolent,
But delights in the law of the LORD
and meditates on his law day and night.
R. Those who follow you, Lord, will have the light of life.
He is like a tree
planted near running water,
That yields its fruit in due season,
and whose leaves never fade.
Whatever he does, prospers.
R. Those who follow you, Lord, will have the light of life.
Not so the wicked, not so;
they are like chaff which the wind drives away.
For the LORD watches over the way of the just,
but the way of the wicked vanishes.
R. Those who follow you, Lord, will have the light of life.

Gospel
Mt 11:16-19

***Jesus said to the crowds:
“To what shall I compare this generation?
It is like children who sit in marketplaces and call to one another,
‘We played the flute for you, but you did not dance,
we sang a dirge but you did not mourn.’ ***
For John came neither eating nor drinking, and they said,
‘He is possessed by a demon.’
The Son of Man came eating and drinking and they said,
‘Look, he is a glutton and a drunkard,
a friend of tax collectors and sinners.’
But wisdom is vindicated by her works.”

.

*the gospel seems to be saying that some people try to control Jesus… They do this or do that to try to get Him to do something… (just my thoughts)…

and then it is the damned-if-you-do-[d]-if-you-[d] thing… (fasting doesn’t make an impression on some and neither does eating /drinking… )

i know the freaking feeling… *

some pepole just try to control God rather than letting HIm control them… i am guilty of that as well…

 

[cheeto1]

"I, the LORD, your God,
teach you what is for your good,
and lead you on the way you should go."
– Hmm… that’s exactly the line that stuck me in the first reading. Also, “vindication” like you noted, because it
appears again in the gospel.

It seems like the people in the gospel learned well today’s
psalm, and so they don’t understand why Jesus should be
in the company of sinners, if He is striving for holiness.
Today’s reading didn’t get to the part where Jesus say’s it
is sick people who need a doctor. Until that is explained, it
seems reasonable for the people to expect Him to follow
after the psalm.

"Blessed the man who follows not
the counsel of the wicked
Nor walks in the way of sinners,
nor sits in the company of the insolent,"
– This seems like advice we should all follow, and if a
stranger (like maybe Jesus) were to be doing the
opposite, would we look on them as holy?
This psalm is my way of doing things, but I notice that
the way of evangelists is the way of Jesus. They seek
out the least holy people they can find.

"But wisdom is vindicated by her works.”
– What does it mean? It seems like Jesus is saying
“there’s a method to my madness”, meaning “just
watch, you’ll see that I was right to act this way”.
I wonder what kind of things we do as Catholics that
may seem kooky to others, but then they will see
that it was right to do. I think it’s Anglicans or Episcopals
that are now wanting to come back.

Today is the day of Pope Damasus.
the readings for his mass are pretty good too

 

[distracted]

not sure i understood that stuff about hanging around with sinners…

we are not to be close friends with unrepentant sinners…

it is hard enough to be good and do what is required when we are around “good” people…

hmmm… :coffeeread:

 

[06convert]

I guess I’m a bit confused.

Everyone is a sinner. Many of my friends are “unrepentant” sinners, but I still consider them my friends. I don’t judge them or pretend to know where they are spiritually. If they ask my advice I’ll tell them. Occasionally I feel moved to speak up when they are making a bad decision. But most of all they need my prayers, which I offer for them.

It is written in Matthew 9:10-13 NIV:

10 While Jesus was having dinner at Matthew’s house, many tax collectors and “sinners” came and ate with him and his disciples.

11 When the Pharisees saw this, they asked his disciples, “Why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and ‘sinners’?”

12 On hearing this, Jesus said, "It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick.

13 But go and learn what this means: ‘I desire mercy, not sacrifice.’ For I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners."

 

[distracted]

I guess I’m a bit confused.

Everyone is a sinner. Many of my friends are “unrepentant” sinners, but I still consider them my friends. I don’t judge them or pretend to know where they are spiritually. If they ask my advice I’ll tell them. Occasionally I feel moved to speak up when they are making a bad decision. But most of all they need my prayers, which I offer for them.

It is written in Matthew 9:10-13 NIV:

10 While Jesus was having dinner at Matthew’s house, many tax collectors and “sinners” came and ate with him and his disciples.

11 When the Pharisees saw this, they asked his disciples, “Why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and ‘sinners’?”

12 On hearing this, Jesus said, "It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick.

13 But go and learn what this means: ‘I desire mercy, not sacrifice.’ For I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners."

then Ps 1 should be eliminated from the Bible?

somewhere else it says not to be unequally yoked w/ unbelievers…