Today, 26th of December, we celebrate
Saint Stephen
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.
Ps 33:12-13, 14-15, 20-21
R./ 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.
Lk 4:38-44
Leaving the synagogue, Jesus went to the house of Simon. His mother-in-law was suffering from high fever and they asked him to do something for her. Bending over her, he rebuked the fever, and it left her. Immediately she got up and waited on them.
At sunset, people suffering from many kinds of sickness were brought to Jesus. Laying his hands on each one, he healed them. Demons were driven out, howling as they departed from their victims, "You are the Son of God!" He rebuked them and would not allow them to speak, for they knew he was the Messiah.
Jesus left at daybreak and looked for a solitary place. People went out in search of him and, finding him, they tried to dissuade him from leaving. But he said, "I have to go to other towns to announce the good news of the kingdom of God. That is what I was sent to do." So Jesus continued to preach in the synagogues of the Jewish country.
We Receive to Give
This woman, Peter’s mother-in-law, appears only once in the Gospel. Peter, without a doubt, had the duty to respect and protect his mother-in-law (who was supposedly a widow, because otherwise, she would be living with her husband…). But this mother-in-law must have been quite extraordinary. Because what’s extraordinary is that she gets up from an illness (it must have been serious because, requiring Jesus’ intervention, it wouldn’t have been a passing cold), and she starts serving. The gift received immediately goes into action of service. She’s an extraordinary woman because the most common thing would have been to have a few days of convalescence. But gratitude is the engine of action. It’s a sign of selflessness and lack of selfishness. It’s a humble recognition of what has been received.
Those who are freed from their demons do the same. The first thing is to proclaim the power of Christ. They could also have taken a vacation after so much suffering from being possessed. But they know that they haven’t been saved by themselves, but by the Son of God. The gift is received for a purpose. It’s not to be wasted.
We have received many gifts from God. The question is, first, to recognize them and then to know what we do with them. When we’re given a gift, we usually keep it or display it to celebrate the good taste or kindness of the person who gave it to us. We don’t give it to someone else because that would be an insult to the giver. But, in the case of grace, its essence is to continue giving grace. The giver, God himself, gives freely so that it may be given freely. Grace is a fountain that should not be cut off. Receiving a grace, a healing, a liberation from something, is energy for service. Refusing to give it away means losing it. If one has received, for example, the gift of generosity or the spirit of service, not practicing it would cause it to wither away. Peter’s mother-in-law doesn’t receive healing to remain bedridden, as if she were still sick, because then she would certainly end up seriously ill or dead; she receives the gift so that her health benefits everyone around her. The same happens with all gifts.
Cármen AguinacoLord our God,
we thank you today for Jesus, your Son.
He came to heal our wounds
and to set us going on the way
to you and to one another.
Help us in our fumbling, stumbling attempts
to continue looking for him
and to make his gospel of hope and love
come true among us as the good news
that your Son is alive among us
and that he is our Lord for ever.
First Reading Introduction
We are God’s community, and therefore, all division among us is a shame. It shows that we have not yet grown up in the Spirit as “spiritual” people. If we could only grow up!
Gospel Introduction
Jesus has preached his message of hope in the lake town of Capernaum and confirmed it by liberating the poor and the sick from the powers of evil. He has to bring the same good news to other places. The gospel of hope in a new world is destined for all. With the people healed by Jesus, let us in this eucharist thank the Lord for his good news.
- That the Church may continue with compassion the task of healing of our Lord Jesus, that the sick may be comforted, the downtrodden set free, and the poor and the weak be protected, we pray:
- That the faith and the hope of the sick and the dying may be firmly anchored in our Lord Jesus who is the resurrection and the life, we pray:
- That we may learn more to heal one another by forgiving each other and by uplifting the sad and the discouraged, we pray:
Lord our God,
we need your Son Jesus Christ
to be with us today.
Give him to us in this bread and wine,
that, weak and fallible as we are,
we may not give up the hope
that your kingdom of justice and peace
can take shape among us.
Let it become the humble sign
of your goodness and justice
and of your joy that lasts for ever.
Lord our God,
in your power you care for the weak,
and so Jesus preferred the poor and the helpless.
Give us his Spirit of compassion and strength,
that we too may commit ourselves
to bring hope and justice
to the dispossessed and the lonely.
And take away our pride, Lord,
for we are perhaps weaker and poorer
than those we presume to uplift.
Count us among those in need of Jesus Christ,
our Lord and Savior for ever.
Jesus cured the many who came to him with all sorts of diseases. Are we aware that we too can bring healing to others, by showing them affection, compassion, forgiveness? May the Lord make you attentive to the healing powers in you and may God bless you, the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit.
