Today's Mass reading / Commentary (Ark of the Covenant [a type of Real Presence] / Jesus heals people..)

[distracted]

**February 8, 2010 **

Monday of the Fifth Week in Ordinary Time
Lectionary: 329

Reading I
1 Kgs 8:1-7, 9-13

The elders of Israel and all the leaders of the tribes,
the princes in the ancestral houses of the children of Israel,
came to King Solomon in Jerusalem,
to bring up the ark of the LORD’s covenant
from the City of David, which is Zion.
All the people of Israel assembled before King Solomon
during the festival in the month of Ethanim (the seventh month).
When all the elders of Israel had arrived,
the priests took up the ark;
they carried the ark of the LORD
and the meeting tent with all the sacred vessels
that were in the tent.
(The priests and Levites carried them.)
King Solomon and the entire community of Israel
present for the occasion
sacrificed before the ark sheep and oxen
too many to number or count.
The priests brought the ark of the covenant of the LORD
to its place beneath the wings of the cherubim in the sanctuary,
the holy of holies of the temple.
The cherubim had their wings spread out over the place of the ark,
sheltering the ark and its poles from above.
There was nothing in the ark but the two stone tablets
which Moses had put there at Horeb,
when the LORD made a covenant with the children of Israel
at their departure from the land of Egypt.

When the priests left the holy place,
the cloud filled the temple of the LORD
so that the priests could no longer minister because of the cloud,
since the LORD’s glory had filled the temple of the LORD.
Then Solomon said, “The LORD intends to dwell in the dark cloud;
I have truly built you a princely house,
a dwelling where you may abide forever.”

Responsorial Psalm
132:6-7, 8-10

R. (8a) Lord, go up to the place of your rest!
Behold, we heard of it in Ephrathah;
we found it in the fields of Jaar.
Let us enter into his dwelling,
let us worship at his footstool.
R. Lord, go up to the place of your rest!
Advance, O LORD, to your resting place,
you and the ark of your majesty.
May your priests be clothed with justice;
let your faithful ones shout merrily for joy.
For the sake of David your servant,
reject not the plea of your anointed.
R. Lord, go up to the place of your rest!

Gospel
Mk 6:53-56

After making the crossing to the other side of the sea,
Jesus and his disciples came to land at Gennesaret
and tied up there.
As they were leaving the boat, people immediately recognized him.
They scurried about the surrounding country
and began to bring in the sick on mats
to wherever they heard he was.
Whatever villages or towns or countryside he entered,
they laid the sick in the marketplaces
and begged him that they might touch only the tassel on his cloak;
and as many as touched it were healed.

.

******I love reading about the Ark of the Covenant because it is a forerunner (so to say) of the Real Presence/Eucharist… i love it that God tangibly visits His pepole. we don’t just have to depend on our prayers to a largely invisible God… :hug3:

it’s amazing how many incidents there are in the NT of Jesus healing people… but i sometimes they just wanted Him to heal them… they didn’t necessarily want to follow Him forever & ever… I mean, look at what happened to Him the End… Who was there for Him then… not many…

we usually serve Jesus selfishly… (sigh) especially the HealthWealth&Prosperity “belivers”… ******

 

[Fidelis]

The thing that strikes me about the first reading is the reverence that Israel gave to the Ark and to the tabernacle. It is so apparent by their actions that they knew the difference between God and themselves; between what was holy and what was profane. Even if there were those among them that had doubts in their hearts, they trusted in God’s presence and power and at least gave God his due in honor and generous sacrifices.

We who have the Real Presence with us everyday in the Eucharist–how do our actions show the dispositions of our hearts to being in God’s presence? Do we dress appropriately, sing joyfully, listen attentively, bow reverently when before the Lord or when we are about to recieve him? Sure, he loves us how we are–but how much do we love, honor and reverence Him?

 

[Aaron_I]

The ark of the covenant is amazing. God was indeed present there, “enthroned upon the cherubim”. The ark is particularly important to us Catholics, though, because it is a model for our reverence to Mary.

Tradition tells us Mary is the Ark of the New Covenant. Why? There are a few reasons. The book of Revelation mentions seeing the ark of the covenant, and then the next sentence is seeing Mary in the sky. Also, the ark contained the 10 commandments, Aaron’s staff, and mannah. In the same way, Mary bore within her Christ, who was a king (10 c.), priest (staff), and the Bread of Life (mannah). The most obvious reason to recognize Mary as the new ark, though, is in 2 Sam 6. Compare that reading with the visitation of Mary to Elizabeth. There’s such a depth and beauty to the Christian faith that I wish the Protestants would return to.

 

[cheeto1]

Then Solomon said…
I have truly built you…a dwelling where you may abide forever.”
– Well, Solomon finally built the house that David wanted to.
But who is God, that He needs an earthly house to live in?
Yet He humbled Himself to bring His presence to that
temple. Now that today, we are “the temple of the Holy
Spirit”, I want to “build Him a dwelling where He may
abide forever”.

"Lord, go up to the place of your rest!"
– Who is the Lord, that He needs a rest? Yet I want to be
a resting place for Him, like an obedient child brings rest
to his parents, so I want to bring rest to the Lord, and a
place where He may abide, forever… welcome, Lord, to
the life You have given me…

***“They…began to bring in the sick on mats
***to wherever they heard he was.”
– They did do that, always, He was never the one to seek
out the sick, like I would if I had the power to heal. They
always came to Him. That’s how important their faith was.
It was more important than even whether they were healed.
Yet we were born into a time when we don’t have to fight
the crowds to get a glimpse of Him. He is with us always,
even to the end of time… What can we do to thank Him
for That?

One of today’s saints is Josephine Bakita. She is from the
Darfur region of Sudan. She suffered so much in her little
life, starting at age 7 when she was kidnapped from her
family. She was so traumatized by this, that she forgot her
name. She had suffered so much by the time she was
taken in by nuns that it is truly a miracle the love she had in
her heart. And all the little children loved her. She got the
name Josephine with the nuns, and Bakita means “lucky one”
in her native African language.

 

[distracted]

The thing that strikes me about the first reading is the reverence that Israel gave to the Ark and to the tabernacle. It is so apparent by their actions that they knew the difference between God and themselves; between what was holy and what was profane. Even if there were those among them that had doubts in their hearts, they trusted in God’s presence and power and at least gave God his due in honor and generous sacrifices.

We who have the Real Presence with us everyday in the Eucharist–how do our actions show the dispositions of our hearts to being in God’s presence? Do we dress appropriately, sing joyfully, listen attentively, bow reverently when before the Lord or when we are about to recieve him? Sure, he loves us how we are–but how much do we love, honor and reverence Him?

i hate how its so hard to keep reverence for Him when we are NOT in the Church… it is really hard to keep all of His commandmnets… When we are not in His Presnece, we just…get caught up in … the spirit of the world or whatever… exasperating…

but oh well… we live… we learn…

 

[distracted]

The ark of the covenant is amazing. God was indeed present there, “enthroned upon the cherubim”. The ark is particularly important to us Catholics, though, because it is a model for our reverence to Mary.

Tradition tells us Mary is the Ark of the New Covenant. Why? There are a few reasons. The book of Revelation mentions seeing the ark of the covenant, and then the next sentence is seeing Mary in the sky. Also, the ark contained the 10 commandments, Aaron’s staff, and mannah. In the same way, Mary bore within her Christ, who was a king (10 c.), priest (staff), and the Bread of Life (mannah). The most obvious reason to recognize Mary as the new ark, though, is in 2 Sam 6. Compare that reading with the visitation of Mary to Elizabeth. There’s such a depth and beauty to the Christian faith that I wish the Protestants would return to.

for sure!!

you live in a state that is only 4% Catholic…

kinda strange… got any speculations as to why there are so few there???