St. Vincent Ferrer Parish

Reading
1 Kings 8:22-23, 27-30

Solomon stood before the altar of the LORD in the presence of the whole community of Israel, and stretching forth his hands toward heaven, he said, “LORD, God of Israel, there is no God like you in heaven above or on earth below; you keep your covenant of kindness with your servants who are faithful to you with their whole heart. “Can it indeed be that God dwells among men on earth? If the heavens and the highest heavens cannot contain you, how much less this temple which I have built! Look kindly on the prayer and petition of your servant, O LORD, my God, and listen to the cry of supplication which I, your servant, utter before you this day. May your eyes watch night and day over this temple, the place where you have decreed you shall be honored; may you heed the prayer which I, your servant, offer in this place. Listen to the petitions of your servant and of your people Israel which they offer in this place. Listen from your heavenly dwelling and grant pardon.”

Responsorial Psalm
“How lovely is your dwelling place, Lord, mighty God!”
Psalm 138:1-2, 2-3, 4-5, 7-8 (1c)

My soul years and pines for the courts of the LORD. My heart and my flesh cry out for the living God.
R. How lovely is your dwelling place, Lord, mighty God!
Even the sparrow finds a home, and the swallow a nest in which she puts her young – your altars, O LORD of hosts, my king and my God!
R. How lovely is your dwelling place, Lord, mighty God!
Blessed they who dwell in your house! Continually they praise you. O God, behold our shield, and look upon the face of your anointed.
R. How lovely is your dwelling place, Lord, mighty God!
I had rather one day in your courts than a thousand elsewhere; I had rather lie at the threshold of the house of my God than dwell in the tents of the wicked.
R. How lovely is your dwelling place, Lord, mighty God!

Gospel
Mark 7:1-13

When the Pharisees with some scribes who had come from Jerusalem gathered around Jesus, they observed that some of his disciples ate their meals with unclean, that is, unwashed, hands. (For the Pharisees and, in fact, all Jews, do not eat without carefully washing their hands, keeping the tradition of the elders. And on coming from the marketplace they do not eat without purifying themselves. And there are many other things that they have traditionally observed, the purification of cups and jugs and kettles [and beds].) So the Pharisees and scribes questioned him, “Why do your disciples not follow the tradition of the elders but instead eat a meal with unclean hands?” He responded, “Well did Isaiah prophesy about you hypocrites, as it is written: ‘This people honors me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me; In vain do they worship me, teaching as doctrines human precepts.’ You disregard God’s commandment but cling to human tradition.” He went on to say, “How well you have set aside the commandment of God in order to uphold your tradition! For Moses said, ‘Honor your father and your mother,’ and ‘Whoever curses father or mother shall die.’ Yet you say, “If a person says to father or mother, ‘Any support you might have had from me is qorban’” (meaning, dedicated to God), you allow him to do nothing more for his father or mother. You nullify the word of God in favor of your tradition that you have handed on. And you do many such things.”

Reading
1 Kings 8:1-7, 9-13

The elders of Israel and all the leaders of the tribes, the princes in the ancestral houses of the Israelites, 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 men 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 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 Israelites 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
“Lord, go up to the place of your rest!”
Psalm 138:1-2, 2-3, 4-5, 7-8 (1c)

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.
R. Lord, go up to the place of your rest!
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
Mark 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.

A friend once told me, “You are a priest. I am not. So you are holy, while I am a sinner.” Oftentimes we still have this kind of mentality. Just because somebody is a priest or a nun, or active in a church, we thought, she or he is holier than others. Some would still say, “Sister, you are nearer to God, you are inside the convent and you always pray, that is why you are holier. We are in the world, and we are sinners.” Being inside the monastery or convent does not make one holier than those outside of it. It is how one follows Jesus Christ that determines her or his holiness.

In the Gospel (Lk. 5:1-11), Jesus borrowed the boat of Peter as an impromptu pulpit and later on asked him to take him onto the lake to do some fishing. Peter was dismayed, for he knew that as they have not caught fish during the night the more they could not just get any fish even by daylight. But Jesus commanded him, “Put out into the deep water.” In spite of his doubts Peter obeyed. His obedience was rewarded by the amazing catch of fish. Peter ordinary man, he is man of God. He must be a holy man. He is his Lord. And he uttered, “Depart from me, Lord, for I am a sinful man.”

Peter felt he was not worthy to be with the Holy One. He confessed that Jesus is the Holy One (Jn. 6:69). He had to distance himself from the Lord. He felt unworthy before Jesus. A holy man is supposed to separate himself from sinners. But Jesus did not. And so Peter reminded him, “Depart from me, a sinful man.” Peter expresses the spirituality of separation of his time. A holy man must not associate himself with sinners. This is why Jesus was always criticized whenever he associated himself with those who are considered sinners by society.

Jesus came to draw sinners to himself. He associated the sinful Peter with himself in his ministry because he put his trust in Jesus. He left everything and followed the Holy One. As a result Peter lived a holy life.

The Catechism for Filipino Catholics states that “God calls us to share in His holiness by living a good life, empowered by the Spirit” (no. 2145).

And so, whoever we are, whatever state of life we are, we are called to be holy. St. Paul says that as a community we are holy (Rom 1:7). We are asked to live a good life. Our Church, in her document, “Church in the Modern World,” Gaudium et Spes speaks of holiness of marriage and family and mothers fulfill their conjugal and family role by virtue of the sacrament of marriage. They are “penetrated with the spirit of Christ and their whole life is suffused by faith, hope, and charity; thus they increasingly further their own perfection and their mutual sanctification, and together they render glory to God” (no. 48). As to the children, the document continues, “children as living members of the family contribute in their own way to the sanctification of their parents. With sentiments of gratitude, affection and trust, they will repay their parents for the benefits given to them and will come to their assistance as devoted children in times of hardship and in the loneliness of old age.”

Parents live a holy life when they fulfill both of their duties as husbands and wives and as fathers and mothers. I could never forget when my own parents shared with me their responsibility and pain. My brothers and I used to help our father plough the fields to plant rice. It was difficult to plough especially under the biting heat of the sun. My father shared with us his apprehension in sending us to college to have degrees. I realized that my parents were preparing us to meet the challenges of life on the steep hills. That we do not have to quit and give up. My father used to tell us that the tragedy of life is to stop trying to reach our goal. And for him, our immediate goal was to reach the other end of the field while directing the carabao and holding on a plough! But more than that he wanted us to reach our own dreams. But we have to live a good life.

But as much as we wanted to live a good life, to be holy, somewhere along the way we stumble. We are discouraged, we give up our own responsibilities. How many priests and nuns gave up their vocations, spouses give up on each other because of discouragements? We cannot just run our lives by ourselves. Maybe things could have been different when we are there to accompany and help one another, to console and to pray for one another.

But the good news is: despite our unworthiness God does not give up on us. Isaiah, Paul, and Peter believe that God’s call is greater than their sinfulness. We are the ones driving God from our lives. But like the three we acknowledge our sins and promise to live a holy life again, to leave everything and follow Jesus.

- Fr. Jose Aripio, SSP
Sambuhay, Year 23 No. 44
February 7, 2010