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| from: servicioskoinonia.org |
Friday, January 13, 2012
Weekday
FIRST READING
1 Samuel 8: 4 - 7, 10 – 22
4 Then all the elders of Israel gathered together and came to Samuel at Ramah, 5 and said to him, "Behold, you are old and your sons do not walk in your ways; now appoint for us a king to govern us like all the nations." 6 But the thing displeased Samuel when they said, "Give us a king to govern us." And Samuel prayed to the LORD. 7 And the LORD said to Samuel, "Hearken to the voice of the people in all that they say to you; for they have not rejected you, but they have rejected me from being king over them.
10 So Samuel told all the words of the LORD to the people who were asking a king from him. 11 He said, "These will be the ways of the king who will reign over you: he will take your sons and appoint them to his chariots and to be his horsemen, and to run before his chariots; 12 and he will appoint for himself commanders of thousands and commanders of fifties, and some to plow his ground and to reap his harvest, and to make his implements of war and the equipment of his chariots. 13 He will take your daughters to be perfumers and cooks and bakers. 14 He will take the best of your fields and vineyards and olive orchards and give them to his servants. 15 He will take the tenth of your grain and of your vineyards and give it to his officers and to his servants. 16 He will take your menservants and maidservants, and the best of your cattle and your asses, and put them to his work. 17 He will take the tenth of your flocks, and you shall be his slaves. 18 And in that day you will cry out because of your king, whom you have chosen for yourselves; but the LORD will not answer you in that day." 19 But the people refused to listen to the voice of Samuel; and they said, "No! but we will have a king over us, 20 that we also may be like all the nations, and that our king may govern us and go out before us and fight our battles." 21 And when Samuel had heard all the words of the people, he repeated them in the ears of the LORD. 22 And the LORD said to Samuel, "Hearken to their voice, and make them a king." Samuel then said to the men of Israel, "Go every man to his city."
Psalms 89: 16 – 19
16 who exult in thy name all the day, and extol thy righteousness. 17 For thou art the glory of their strength; by thy favor our horn is exalted. 18 For our shield belongs to the LORD, our king to the Holy One of Israel. 19 Of old thou didst speak in a vision to thy faithful one, and say: "I have set the crown upon one who is mighty, I have exalted one chosen from the people
Mark 2: 1 – 12
1 And when he returned to Caper'na-um after some days, it was reported that he was at home. 2 And many were gathered together, so that there was no longer room for them, not even about the door; and he was preaching the word to them. 3 And they came, bringing to him a paralytic carried by four men. 4 And when they could not get near him because of the crowd, they removed the roof above him; and when they had made an opening, they let down the pallet on which the paralytic lay. 5 And when Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralytic, "My son, your sins are forgiven." 6 Now some of the scribes were sitting there, questioning in their hearts, 7 "Why does this man speak thus? It is blasphemy! Who can forgive sins but God alone?" 8 And immediately Jesus, perceiving in his spirit that they thus questioned within themselves, said to them, "Why do you question thus in your hearts? 9 Which is easier, to say to the paralytic, `Your sins are forgiven,' or to say, `Rise, take up your pallet and walk'? 10 But that you may know that the Son of man has authority on earth to forgive sins" -- he said to the paralytic -- 11 "I say to you, rise, take up your pallet and go home." 12 And he rose, and immediately took up the pallet and went out before them all; so that they were all amazed and glorified God, saying, "We never saw anything like this!"
PSALM RESPONSE
Psalms 89: 16 – 19
16 who exult in thy name all the day, and extol thy righteousness. 17 For thou art the glory of their strength; by thy favor our horn is exalted. 18 For our shield belongs to the LORD, our king to the Holy One of Israel. 19 Of old thou didst speak in a vision to thy faithful one, and say: "I have set the crown upon one who is mighty, I have exalted one chosen from the people
GOSPEL
Mark 2: 1 – 12
1 And when he returned to Caper'na-um after some days, it was reported that he was at home. 2 And many were gathered together, so that there was no longer room for them, not even about the door; and he was preaching the word to them. 3 And they came, bringing to him a paralytic carried by four men. 4 And when they could not get near him because of the crowd, they removed the roof above him; and when they had made an opening, they let down the pallet on which the paralytic lay. 5 And when Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralytic, "My son, your sins are forgiven." 6 Now some of the scribes were sitting there, questioning in their hearts, 7 "Why does this man speak thus? It is blasphemy! Who can forgive sins but God alone?" 8 And immediately Jesus, perceiving in his spirit that they thus questioned within themselves, said to them, "Why do you question thus in your hearts? 9 Which is easier, to say to the paralytic, `Your sins are forgiven,' or to say, `Rise, take up your pallet and walk'? 10 But that you may know that the Son of man has authority on earth to forgive sins" -- he said to the paralytic -- 11 "I say to you, rise, take up your pallet and go home." 12 And he rose, and immediately took up the pallet and went out before them all; so that they were all amazed and glorified God, saying, "We never saw anything like this!"
Isaiah 43:25, "I am He who blots out your transgressions for my own sake, and I will not remember your sins."
Mark 2:10 But that you may know that the Son of man has authority on earth to forgive sins"
Why Catholics confess to a priest?
Only God can forgive sins. Christ who came from God and who is God Himself has this authority which he exercised while he was here in this world.(Mat.9:5-8, Mk2:8 -11) Apostles can forgive sins as Jesus conferred this authority to forgive sins, to his apostles . Jn 20: 22ff “ He breathed on them and said ‘Receive the Holy Spirit , if you forgive sins of any, they are forgiven , if you retain the sins of any , they are retained”
The church upon Peter has the power to forgive sins as it is given to her by the Master Jesus. “ And I say to you, you are Peter and upon this rock I will build my Church and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it . I will give you the key of the Kingdom of heaven . Whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven; and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven ( Mt 16:17 – 19 ). So we can ask pardon to the Church as it has the authority to forgive sins.
‘Confess directly to God only ', is an anti- Christ teaching, just to destroy the salvific plan of Jesus and which is written nowhere in the Bible. When the prodigal son repented, he confessed to God and at the same time he confessed to his father: ”Father I have sinned against heaven and against you”(Lk15: 18 ) Bible questions ‘Confess directly to God theory’ in St. James letter: Therefore ,confess your sins to one another”(James 5: 14-16)
When we commit sin, we sinned against God and against society, as we are the members of same body, the Church. So it becomes the proper way to get forgiveness ,to ask pardon to God and to the Church. Priest in the confession is the representative of the Church, the body of Jesus ( the ambassador of Christ(II Cor 5: 18 ) who is validly Ordained by the successors of the apostles, and who has the authority to forgive sins
No Catholic can make a valid confession, the sacrament of reconciliation, without directly confessing to God first. It is only after asking pardon to God, and repenting about his sins, the catholic goes to a priest .
Cited from:Fr.Paul Kaiparambadan
KNOW THE TRUTH
A publication to defend the Catholic faith.
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