25 May 2024 – Saturday of Week 7

25 May 2024 – Saturday of Week 7

Optional Memorials: St Bede, 673-735, monk of Jarrow, historian, biblical scholar and patron of scholars. St Gregory V11, 1028-85, was hildebrand of Tuscany, a Cluniac monk in Rome who became pope, worked for reform and died in exile in Salerno. St Mary Magdalene de’ Pazzi, 1566-1607, a Carmelite in Florence who offered her life for the spiritual renewal of the Church.

e1st Reading: James 5:13-20

Anointing with oil and confession of sins, for a cure

Are any among you suffering? They should pray. Are any cheerful? They should sing songs of praise. Are any among you sick? They should call for the elders of the church and have them pray over them, anointing them with oil in the name of the Lord. The prayer of faith will save the sick, and the Lord will raise them up; and anyone who has committed sins will be forgiven. Therefore confess your sins to one another, and pray for one another, so that you may be healed. The prayer of the righteous is powerful and effective. Elijah was a human being like us, and he prayed fervently that it might not rain, and for three years and six months it did not rain on the earth. Then he prayed again, and the heaven gave rain and the earth yielded its harvest.

My brothers and sisters, if anyone among you wanders from the truth and is brought back by another, you should know that whoever brings back a sinner from wandering will save the sinner’s soul from death and will cover a multitude of sins.

Responsorial: Psalm 141

R./: Let my prayer come like incense before you

O Lord, to you I call; hasten to me;
hearken to my voice when I call upon you.
Let my prayer come like incense before you;
the lifting up of my hands, like the evening sacrifice. (R./)

O Lord, set a watch before my mouth,
a guard at the door of my lips.
For toward you, O God, my Lord, my eyes are turned;
in you I take refuge; strip me not of life. (R./)

Gospel: Mark 10:13-16

Jesus embraces and blesses the children

People were bringing little children to Jesus so that he might touch them; and the disciples spoke sternly to them. But when Jesus saw this, he was indignant and said to them, “Let the little children come to me; do not stop them; for it is to such as these that the kingdom of God belongs. Truly I tell you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God as a little child will never enter it.” And he took them up in his arms, laid his hands on them, and blessed them.

Young and Old in the Community

We saw Jesus showing his love for children, while James shows our need of the advice, prayers and blessing of the elders; and then Jesus teaches how children can model for all of us the real spirit of the Kingdom of God.

James has advice for caring for the elderly and the ill members of the church. He urges the elders vist the sick person and console them by prayer and anointing with oil in the name of the Lord. The hope is for a gift of healing that is complete and integral, physical and spiritual. He also recommends, “Declare your sins to one another, and pray for one another, that you may find healing.” This applies of course to the wider community, that we be concerned for each other’s spiritual well-being.

And if someone should “wander from the truth” (in some vital and scandalous way), the others should show loving concern, since, “the person who brings a sinner back from the evil way will save their own soul from death and cancel a multitude of sins.” Motivating this action is fraternal concern. At another place in Scripture we read, “Let your love for one another be constant, for love covers a multitude of sins” (1 Pet 4:8).

Mark today draws a lesson about children. Here Jesus states a basic principle: It is to people who trust like children that the kingdom of God belongs. The disciples considered Jesus’ time too precious to waste on the children. But Jesus saw things differently. He embraced the children and blessed them, placing his hands on them. This touch of blessing unites the readings: Jesus embracing the children; the elders laying hands on the sick and anointing them. We need not fear to bless others, for that is the spirit of the Kingdom.