First reading Tobit 11:5-17
Tobit’s sight is restored to him
Anna was sitting, watching the road by which her son would come. She was sure at once it must be he and said to the father, ‘Here comes your son, with his companion.’
Raphael said to Tobias before he reached his father, ‘I give you my word that your father’s eyes will open. You must put the fish’s gall to his eyes; the medicine will smart and will draw a filmy white skin off his eyes. And your father will be able to see and look on the light.’
The mother ran forward and threw her arms round her son’s neck. ‘Now I can die,’ she said ‘I have seen you again.’ And she wept. Tobit rose to his feet and stumbled across the courtyard through the door. Tobias came on towards him (he had the fish’s gall in his hand). He blew into his eyes and said, steadying him, ‘Take courage, father!’ With this he applied the medicine, left it there a while, then with both hands peeled away a filmy skin from the corners of his eyes. Then his father fell on his neck and wept. He exclaimed, ‘I can see, my son, the light of my eyes!’ And he said:
‘Blessed be God!
Blessed be his great name!
Blessed be all his holy angels!
Blessed be his great name for evermore!
For he had scourged me
and now has had pity on me
and I see my son Tobias.’
Tobias went into the house, and with a loud voice joyfully blessed God. Then he told his father everything: how his journey had been successful and he had brought the silver back; how he had married Sarah, the daughter of Raguel; how she was following him now, close behind, and could not be far from the gates of Nineveh.
Tobit set off to the gates of Nineveh to meet his daughter-in-law, giving joyful praise to God as he went. When the people of Nineveh saw him walking without a guide and stepping forward as briskly as of old, they were astonished. Tobit described to them how God had taken pity on him and had opened his eyes. Then Tobit met Sarah, the bride of his son Tobias, and blessed her in these words, ‘Welcome, daughter! Blessed be your God for sending you to us, my daughter. Blessings on your father, blessings on my son Tobias, blessings on yourself, my daughter. Welcome now to your own house in joyfulness and in blessedness. Come in, my daughter.’ He held a feast that day for all the Jews of Nineveh.
Responsorial Psalm 145(146):2,7-10
My soul, give praise to the Lord.
or
Alleluia!
My soul, give praise to the Lord:
I will praise the Lord all my days,
make music to my God while I live.
My soul, give praise to the Lord.
or
Alleluia!
It is the Lord who keeps faith for ever,
who is just to those who are oppressed.
It is he who gives bread to the hungry,
the Lord, who sets prisoners free,
It is the Lord who gives sight to the blind,
who raises up those who are bowed down,
the Lord, who protects the stranger
and upholds the widow and orphan.
It is the Lord who loves the just
but thwarts the path of the wicked.
The Lord will reign for ever,
Zion’s God, from age to age.
Gospel Mark 12:35-37
‘David himself calls him Lord’
At that time while teaching in the Temple, Jesus said, ‘How can the scribes maintain that the Christ is the son of David? David himself, moved by the Holy Spirit, said:
The Lord said to my Lord:
Sit at my right hand
and I will put your enemies
under your feet.
David himself calls him Lord, in what way then can he be his son?’ And the great majority of the people heard this with delight.
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Jesus, human and divine
In today’s gospel, Jesus raised the issue of His identity while teaching in the Temple. He said that the religious leaders got it wrong when they called Him “son of David” because they believed that He was the coming Messiah who would overthrow the Roman empire and free the Jews from oppression. Here, Jesus presented Himself as the Christ, the coming Messiah, but He was more than a political leader. Jesus quoted Psalm 110 to point out that the coming Messiah was greater than they could ever imagined. Psalm 110 should read as, “The Lord (God) declared to my (David’s) Lord (the coming Messiah, i.e. Jesus), take your seat at my right hand till I have made your enemies your footstool”. God called the coming Messiah, “Lord”; thus, Jesus was more than a political hero. He is Son of God, God incarnate, human and divine.
Today, let us ask ourselves, who is Jesus for me? Let us not put Him into a small box of our own assumptions and ideas. Instead, Jesus calls us to spend time with Him, enter into a personal relationship with Him and know Him more as who He truly is.
Reflective question:
Who is Jesus for me?
Who is Jesus for me?
Acknowledgment: Reflections are based on “Prayer for Living: The Word of God for Daily Prayer Year A” by Sr Sandra Seow FMVD.
