Monday, February 11, 2013

Touch Only the Tassel



Touch Only the Tassel

February 11, 2012
Monday of the Fifth Week in Ordinary Time
God set them in the dome of the sky, to shed light upon the earth, to govern the day and the night, and to separate the light from the darkness.  God saw how good it was. Evening came, and morning followed–the fourth day.  Genesis 1:17-19
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.  Mark 6:56

Piety

Great is the LORD and He is highly praised in the city of our God: His holy mountain, suburbs, cities and towns are fairest of heights.  He makes us and gives to us the joys of all the earth, from the heights of the Blue Ridge Mountains to the shores of the Chesapeake Bay and Potomac.  He asks of us only to help him build his city where we walk.  God alone is the fortress protecting us.  Based upon Psalm 48

Study

These past few weeks have given Jesus (and the writers of the Gospel) ample time to give us a "Little Lenten Instruction Booklet."  Today's Gospel almost caps off the ordinary time between Christmas and Lent with the crowds crushing in upon Jesus for healing.  No longer do they seek to throw him off the mountain.  The crowds of people  cannot get enough of him.   
Each of us can pick out of the last five weeks numerous entries for the Little Lenten Instruction Book.  I will start with these from our recent scripture study.

  1. With what attitude should we approach the approaching season?  Here I am.  Send me.
  2. What about the uncertainty and conflicts we will meet up with along the way?    The Lord is my helper, and I will not be afraid.  What can anyone do to me?
  3. What about all the pressures of daily life, spiritual life and more?  How will we get the tools to cope with it all?  “Come away by yourselves to a deserted place and rest a while.”

Action

Rather than focus on the giving up, what instructions for your "fourth day" from Jesus are you planning to take up as Lent opens on Wednesday?

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