First Reading – 1 Samuel 15:16-23
“Stop! Let me tell you what the LORD said to me last night.”
Saul replied, “Speak!”
Samuel then said: “Though little in your own esteem,
are you not leader of the tribes of Israel?
The LORD anointed you king of Israel and sent you on a mission, saying,
‘Go and put the sinful Amalekites under a ban of destruction.
Fight against them until you have exterminated them.’
Why then have you disobeyed the LORD?
You have pounced on the spoil, thus displeasing the LORD.”
Saul answered Samuel: “I did indeed obey the LORD
and fulfill the mission on which the LORD sent me.
I have brought back Agag, and I have destroyed Amalek under the ban.
But from the spoil the men took sheep and oxen,
the best of what had been banned,
to sacrifice to the LORD their God in Gilgal.”
But Samuel said:
“Does the LORD so delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices
as in obedience to the command of the LORD?
Obedience is better than sacrifice,
and submission than the fat of rams.
For a sin like divination is rebellion,
and presumption is the crime of idolatry.
Because you have rejected the command of the LORD,
he, too, has rejected you as ruler.”
R. (23b) To the upright I will show the saving power of God.
“Not for your sacrifices do I rebuke you,
for your burnt offerings are before me always.
I take from your house no bullock,
no goats out of your fold.”
R. To the upright I will show the saving power of God.
“Why do you recite my statutes,
and profess my covenant with your mouth,
Though you hate discipline
and cast my words behind you?”
R. To the upright I will show the saving power of God.
“When you do these things, shall I be deaf to it?
Or do you think that I am like yourself?
I will correct you by drawing them up before your eyes.
He that offers praise as a sacrifice glorifies me;
and to him that goes the right way I will show the salvation of God.”
R. To the upright I will show the saving power of God.
Alleluia – Hebrews 4:12
The word of God is living and effective,
able to discern reflections and thoughts of the heart.
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
Gospel – Mark 2:18-22
People came to Jesus and objected,
“Why do the disciples of John and the disciples of the Pharisees fast,
but your disciples do not fast?”
Jesus answered them,
“Can the wedding guests fast while the bridegroom is with them?
As long as they have the bridegroom with them they cannot fast.
But the days will come when the bridegroom is taken away from them,
and then they will fast on that day.
No one sews a piece of unshrunken cloth on an old cloak.
If he does, its fullness pulls away,
the new from the old, and the tear gets worse.
Likewise, no one pours new wine into old wineskins.
Otherwise, the wine will burst the skins,
and both the wine and the skins are ruined.
Rather, new wine is poured into fresh wineskins.”
January 22 is Day of Prayer for the Legal Protection of Unborn Children:
Reflection: My Take on Being Pro-Life as a Filipino Catholic
This is a day of prayer for the unborn and of penance for the sins committed through acts of abortion. Here is a 2019 Post I wrote about the fight against abortion. My Reflection narrates how I became Pro-Life, and why I care about the Pro-Life updates and issues in the United States, even I’m a Filipino. You, too, must care. Whether you’re from the US or whichever part of the world, I encourage you to take a look back at this article to better understand what being ‘Pro-Life Catholic’ truly means.
This first Post to start off the 20’s offers an absorbing My Reflection. I’m sharing with you my heartfelt personal advice on how to let go of the past… the way I did. Many “practicing” Catholics are still carrying the heavy baggages of the past—hurts, wounds, bad choices, wrong decisions, mistakes, regrets. Here is a Catholic perspective on why letting go of the past will enable you to move on, with God, to have a present and a future. I guarantee that there is so much to reflect on and learn in my piece. Happy New Year 2020!
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