Daily Bible Reading
St Francis de Sales
LECTIONARY
315
FIRST READING
Heb 8:6-13
But as it is, Christ has obtained a ministry that is as much more excellent than the old as the covenant he mediates is better, since it is enacted on better promises. For if that first covenant had been faultless, there would have been no occasion to look for a second. For he finds fault with them when he says:“Behold, the days are coming, declares the Lord, when I will establish a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah, not like the covenant that I made with their fathers on the day when I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt. For they did not continue in my covenant, and so I showed no concern for them, declares the Lord. For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, declares the Lord: I will put my laws into their minds, and write them on their hearts, and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. And they shall not teach, each one his neighbor and each one his brother, saying, ‘Know the Lord,’ for they shall all know me, from the least of them to the greatest. For I will be merciful toward their iniquities, and I will remember their sins no more.” In speaking of a new covenant, he makes the first one obsolete. And what is becoming obsolete and growing old is ready to vanish away.
PSALM
85:8 and 10, 11-12, 13-14
Response: Kindness and truth shall meet.
Show us, O LORD, your mercy,
and grant us your salvation.
Near indeed is his salvation to those who fear him,
glory dwelling in our land.
Kindness and truth shall meet;
justice and peace shall kiss.
Truth shall spring out of the earth,
and justice shall look down from heaven.
The LORD himself will give his benefits;
our land shall yield its increase.
Justice shall walk before him,
and salvation, along the way of his steps.
GOSPEL
Mk 3:13-19
And he went up on the mountain and called to him those whom he desired, and they came to him. And he appointed twelve (whom he also named apostles) so that they might be with him and he might send them out to preach and have authority to cast out demons. He appointed the twelve: Simon (to whom he gave the name Peter); James the son of Zebedee and John the brother of James (to whom he gave the name Boanerges, that is, Sons of Thunder); Andrew, and Philip, and Bartholomew, and Matthew, and Thomas, and James the son of Alphaeus, and Thaddaeus, and Simon the Zealot, and Judas Iscariot, who betrayed him.
Daily Reflection
24th January 2025
St Francis de Sales
The letter to the Hebrews reminds us that God has entered into a new covenant with His people through Christ. The covenant of the Old Testament is replaced with this new covenant, which is written directly on their minds and hearts, and it promises His unfailing love and mercy. In and through Christ, they have been invited into a relationship which commissions them to take Jesus’ mission forward, to share the promise of this covenant with all.
The Gospel continues this message through the call of the twelve who were given a two-fold mission: to be committed to Jesus and form the community, and to announce the Good News and fight the power of evil that alienates people from God. We, too, have been included, by virtue of our baptism, in this covenantal relationship with God, and have been commissioned to participate in this two-fold mission.
So, do we live as a caring, loving community centered on Christ? Do we confront the evil that prevents others from sharing in God’s merciful love?