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February 8, 2010
Reflection for today’s Mass by Fr. Michael, OCSO Celebrant
+In the first reading we heard of the elders of Israel bringing the Ark of the
Covenant into the sanctuary of the Temple and of how the glory of the Lord
filled the Temple in the form of a cloud.
So much so, the priests could no longer minister because of the cloud. In our
gospel we have Jesus moving from village to village, from town to town and of
their bringing all the sick to him, hoping to touch just the tassel of his
cloak. And all who touched it were healed. In Jesus a new form of God’s glory is
revealed, a new temple is being built, one of which we too are the builders as
we become the carriers of Christ’s healing presence.
First reading 1 Kings 8:1-7,9-13
Solomon called the elders of Israel together in Jerusalem to bring the ark of
the covenant of the Lord up from the Citadel of David, which is Zion. All the
men of Israel assembled round King Solomon in the month of Ethanim, at the time
of the feast (that is, the seventh month), and the priests took up the ark and
the Tent of Meeting with all the sacred vessels that were in it. In the presence
of the ark, King Solomon and all Israel sacrificed sheep and oxen, countless,
innumerable. The priests brought the ark of the covenant of the Lord to its
place, in the Debir of the Temple, that is, in the Holy of Holies, under the
cherubs’ wings. For there where the ark was placed the cherubs spread out their
wings and sheltered the ark and its shafts. There was nothing in the ark except
the two stone tablets Moses had placed in it at Horeb, the tablets of the
covenant which the Lord had made with the Israelites when they came out of the
land of Egypt; they are still there today.
Now when the priests came out of the sanctuary, the cloud filled the Temple of
the Lord, and because of the cloud the priests could no longer perform their
duties: the glory of the Lord filled the Lord’s Temple.
Then Solomon said: ‘The Lord has chosen to dwell in the thick cloud. Yes, I have
built you a dwelling, a place for you to live in for ever.’
Gospel Mark 6:53-56
Having made the crossing, Jesus and his disciples came to land at Gennesaret and
tied up. No sooner had they stepped out of the boat than people recognized him,
and started hurrying all through the countryside and brought the sick on
stretchers to wherever they heard he was. And wherever he went, to village, or
town, or farm, they laid down the sick in the open spaces, begging him to let
them touch even the fringe of his cloak. And all those who touched him were
cured.
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