Churches of the Day

Tuesday of Week 5 in Ordinary Time, Year 2

Saint of the Day: Feb 10; St Scholastica, religious
C/f A short life of be this saint can found below todays' Readings and Reflection.

FIRST READING                 

A reading from the first book of Kings             8:22-23, 27-30
You have said, "My name shall be there." Hear the entreaty of your people Israel.

In the presence of the whole assembly of Israel, Solomon stood before the altar of the Lord and, stretching out his hands towards heaven, said,
'Lord, God of Israel, not in heaven above nor on earth beneath is there such a God as you, true to your covenant and your kindness towards your servants when they walk wholeheartedly in your way. Yet will God really live with men on the earth? Why, the heavens and their own heavens cannot contain you. How much less this house that I have built!
Listen to the prayer and entreaty of your servant, Lord my God; listen to the cry and to the prayer your servant makes to you today. Day and night let your eyes watch over this house, over this place of which you have said, "My name shall be there".

Listen to the prayer that your servant will offer in this place.
'Hear the entreaty of your servant and of Israel your people as they pray in this place.
From heaven where your dwelling is, hear; and, as you hear, forgive'.

The Word of the Lord            Thanks be to God

Responsorial Psalm         Sm 83: 3-5. 10-11, R/v 2
Response                              How lovely-is your dwelling place, Lord, God of hosts.

1. My soul is longing and yearning, is yearning for the courts of the Lord.
My heart and my soul ring out their joy to God, the living God.                              Response

2. The sparrow herself finds a home and the swallow a nest for her brood;
she lays her young by your altars, Lord of hosts, my king and my God.                Response

3. They are happy, who dwell in your house, for ever singing your praise.
Turn your eyes, O God, our shield, look on the face of your anointed.                  Response

4. One day within your courts is better than a thousand elsewhere.
The threshold of the house of God I prefer to the dwellings of the wicked.         Response

Gospel  Acclamation       Ps 118: 34
Alleluia, alleluia!
Train me to observe your law, to keep it with all my heart.
Alleluia!

Or                                           Ps 118: 36.29
Alleluia, alleluia!
Bend my heart to your will, O Lord, and teach me your law.
Alleluia!

GOSPEL   

The Lord be with you.                       And with your spirit
A reading from the holy Gospel according to Mark       7: 1-13            Glory to you, O Lord
You put aside the commandment of God to cling to human traditions.

The Pharisees and some of the scribes who had come from Jerusalem gathered round Jesus, and they noticed that some of his disciples were eating with unclean hands, that is, without washing them.

For the Pharisees, and the Jews in general, follow the tradition of the elders and never eat without washing their arms as far as the elbow; and on returning from the market place they never eat without first sprinkling themselves. There are also many other observances which have been handed down to them concerning the washing of cups and pots and bronze dishes.
So these Pharisees and scribes asked him,
'Why do your disciples not respect the tradition of the elders but eat their food with unclean hands?'
He answered, 'It was of you hypocrites that Isaiah so rightly prophesied in this passage of scripture:
'This people honours me only with lip-service, while their hearts are far from me. The worship they offer me is worthless, the doctrines they teach are only human regulations. You put aside the commandment of God to cling to human traditions.'

And he said to them,
'How ingeniously you get round the commandment of God in order to preserve your own tradition!
For Moses said:'
Do your duty to your father and your mother, and, anyone who curses father or mother must be put to death.
But you say, "If a man says to his father or mother: Anything I have that I might have used to help you is Corban (that is, dedicated to God), then he is forbidden from that moment to do anything for his father or mother."  In this way you make God's word null and void for the sake of your tradition which you have handed down. And you do many other things like this.'

The Gospel of the Lord             Praise to you, Lord Jesus Christ.

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Gospel Reflection    Tuesday,         Fifth Week in Ordinary Time       Mark  7:1-13

The beginning of today’s gospel reading has a contemporary feel to it. The Pharisees and scribes were complaining that Jesus’ disciples were eating with unclean hands, without washing them. We have all got used to washing our hands frequently since the onset of the Covid pandemic. The hand-washing that so preoccupied the Pharisees and scribes had to do not so much with physical cleanliness but ritual cleanliness, which is more difficult for us to understand today. The Bible prescribed hand-washing rituals only for the priests who worked in the Temple in Jerusalem, but the Pharisees wanted to extend these hand-washing rituals to daily life because they held that all Israel was a priestly people. These regulations of the Pharisees for daily life were not in the Bible but were part of what they called the ‘tradition of the elders’. In reply, Jesus criticises the Pharisees for giving more importance to these human traditions than to the commandment of God.

Jesus is reminding us that we can be overly preoccupied with non-essentials, in religious matters as much as in other areas of life. In the religious sphere, we can easily attribute the greatest importance to something that in God’s eyes is not so important, while failing to take seriously what really does matter to God. The life, death and resurrection of Jesus reveals what matters most to God, a way of life that reflects the love that is within the heart of God.

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The Scripture Readings are taken from The Jerusalem Bible, published 1966 by Darton, Longman & Todd Ltd. and used with the permission of the publishers.  http://dltbooks.com/
The Scripture Reflection is made available with our thanks from his book Reflections on the Weekday Readings : The Word is near to you, on your lips and in your heart by Martin Hogan and published by Messenger Publications, c/f www.messenger.ie/bookshop/

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Saint of the Day: Feb 10; St Scholastica, religious
Scholastica was born at Norcia (Italy) about 480;  died near Monte Cassino in the 540s. Like St Benedict, her twin brother, she dedicated herself to God through her monastic life. Noted for her part in establishing Benedictine monasticism.

Everything we know about Scholastica and her twin- brother Benedict comes from the Dialogues of St Gregory the Great. The tradition that she was herself a nun dates from the 11th century.

Patrick Duffy recounts the traditions about her.

Twin-sister of St Benedict
Born at Norcia in Umbria, the sister of St Benedict, the later tradition is that she consecrated herself to God from her earliest years and remained at home with her father, while Benedict went to Rome for his education.

When Benedict was at Subiaco, Scholastica may have been at a monastery nearby. At any rate when Benedict moved to Monte Cassino, she may have have founded and supervised a nunnery at Plombariola (five miles south of Monte Cassino). Scholastica used to visit her brother once a year, meeting in a house outside his monastery.

Their Last Meeting
In the last meeting, Scholastica, sensing that she was nearing death, begged her brother to stay the night in order to prolong their discussion of "the joys of heaven". He refused, citing his obedience to the Rule. Scholastica bowed her head in prayer and such a violent storm broke out that Benedict and his companions could not leave the house.
"God forgive you, sister," he said, "what have you done?"
"I asked you a favour and you refused it,"
she replied. "I asked it of God and he granted it."
So God saw to it that the Rule yielded to human need. Three days later she died.

Burial Together
Back in his monastery, Benedict saw her soul rising to heaven in the form of a dove. He sent some monks to fetch her body and had it buried in a tomb prepared for himself.
Some time later, he died and was buried beside her.

Image below: Montecassino, crypt with the remains of Ss. Benedict and his sister, Scholastica

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Memorable Saying  for today

You and I are brother and sister forever.
Always remember that if you fall I will pick you up-
as soon as I finish laughing!”

~ Author Unknown ~

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-15-2-2026-

Sixth Sunday in Ordinary Time

We have been give the freedom to obey God's will.
Christ calls to choose love as our way of fulfilling God's will and fullness of life but....

FIRST READING

A reading from the Book of Ecclesiasticus ( Ben Sirach)       15:15-20
He never commanded anyone to be godless.

If you wish, you can keep the commandments, to behave faithfully is within your power. He has set fire and water before you; put out your hand to whichever you prefer.
Man has life and death before him; whichever a man likes better will be given him.
For vast is the wisdom of the Lord; he is almighty and all-seeing.
His eyes are on those who fear him, he notes every action of man.
He never commanded anyone to be godless, he has given no one permission to sin.

The Word of the Lord             Thanks be to God.

Responsorial Psalm         Ps 118: 1-2, 4-5, 17-18, 33-34
Response                              They are happy who follow God's law!

1. They are happy whose life is blameless, who follow God's law!
They are happy those who do his will, seeking him with all their hearts.       Response

2. You have laid down your precepts to be obeyed with care.
May my footsteps be firm to obey your statutes.                                                  Response

3. Bless your servant and I shall live and obey your word.
Open my eyes that I may consider the wonders of your law.                             Response

4. Teach me the demands of your statutes and I will keep them to the end.
Train me to observe your law, to keep it with my heart.                                     Response

SECOND READING

A reading from the second letter of St Paul to the Corinthians        2:6-10
God predestined to be for our glory before the ages began.

We have a wisdom to offer those who have reached maturity: not a philosophy of our age, it is true, still less of the masters of our age, which are coming to their end. The hidden wisdom of God which we teach in our mysteries is the wisdom that God predestined to be for our glory before the ages began. It is a wisdom that none of the masters of this age have ever known, or they would not have crucified the Lord of Glory; we teach what scripture calls: The things that no eye has seen and no ear has heard, things beyond the mind of man, all that God has prepared for those who love him.

These are the very things that God has revealed to us through the Spirit, for the Spirit reaches the depths of everything, even the depths of God.

The Word of the Lord            Thanks be to God.

Gospel Acclamation         1 Sam 3:9
Alleluia, alleluia!
Speak, Lord, your servant is listening: you have the message of eternal life.
Alleluia!

or                                              Mt 11:25
Alleluia, alleluia!
Blessed are you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth,
for revealing the mysteries of the kingdom to mere children.
Alleluia!

GOSPEL

The Lord be with you.                        And with your spirit
A reading from the Gospel according to Matthew     5:17-37        Glory to you, O Lord
You have learnt how it was said to your ancestors; but I say this to you.

Jesus said to his disciples:
‘Do not imagine that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets. I have come not to abolish them but to complete them. I tell you solemnly, till heaven and earth disappear, not one dot, one little stroke, shall disappear from the Law until its purpose is achieved.

Therefore, the man who infringes even one of the least of these commandments and teaches others to do the same will be considered the least in the kingdom of heaven; but the man who keeps them and teaches them will be considered great in the kingdom of heaven.

‘For I tell you, if your virtue goes no deeper than that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never get into the kingdom of heaven.

‘You have learnt how it was said to our ancestors:
You must not kill; and if anyone does kill he must answer for it before the court.
But I say this to you: Anyone who is angry with his brother will answer for it before the court; if a man calls his brother “Fool” he will answer for it before the Sanhedrin; and if a man calls him “Renegade” he will answer for it in hell fire.

So then, if you are bringing your offering to the altar and there remember that your brother has something against you, leave your offering there before the altar, go and be reconciled with your brother first, and then come back and present your offering. Come to terms with your opponent in good time while you are still on the way to the court with him, or he may hand you over to the judge and the judge to the officer, and you will be thrown into prison. I tell you solemnly, you will not get out till you have paid the last penny.

‘You have learnt how it was said:
You must not commit adultery.
But I say this to you: if a man looks at a woman lustfully, he has already committed adultery with her in his heart. If your right eye should cause you to sin, tear it out and throw it away; for it will do you less harm to lose one part of you than to have your whole body thrown into hell. And if your right hand should cause you to sin, cut it off and throw it away; for it will do you less harm to lose one part of you than to have your whole body go to hell.

‘It has also been said:
Anyone who divorces his wife must give her a writ of dismissal.
But I say this to you: Everyone who divorces his wife, except for the case of fornication, makes her an adulteress; and anyone who marries a divorced woman commits adultery.

‘Again, you have learnt how it was said to our ancestors:
You must not break your oath, but must fulfil your oaths to the Lord.
But I say this to you: Do not swear at all, either by heaven, since that is God’s throne; or by the earth, since that is his footstool; or by Jerusalem, since that is the city of the great king. Do not swear by your own head either, since you cannot turn a single hair white or black.
All you need say is “Yes” if you mean yes, “No” if you mean no; anything more than this comes from the evil one.’

The Gospel of the Lord       Praise to you, Lord Jesus Christ.

For homily resources for this Sunday's Gospel click here:  https://www.catholicireland.net/sunday-homily/

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Shorter Gospel form

A reading from the Gospel according to Matthew        5:20-22. 
Theme: You have learnt how it was said to your ancestors; but I say this to you....

Jesus said to his disciples:
'Do not imagine that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets.
I have come not to abolish but to complete them.
I tell you solemnly, till heaven and earth disappear, not one dot, not one little stroke, shall disappear from the Law until its purpose is achieved. Therefore, the man who infringes even one of the least of these commandments and teaches others to do the same will be considered the least in the kingdom of heaven; but the man who keeps them and teaches them will be considered great in the kingdom of heaven.

'For I tell you,if your virtue goes no deeper than that of the scribes and Pharisees,
you will never get into the kingdom of heaven

The Gospel of the Lord            Praise to you, Lord Jesus Christ.

For homily resources for this Sunday's Gospel click here:  https://www.catholicireland.net/sunday-homily/



The scripture readings are taken from THE JERUSALEM BIBLE, published by Darton, Longman and Todd Ltd and used with permission of the publishers.