A Heart Like Jesus:

we can recast our hearts to be more like that of Jesus.

The desire to love everyone and bring them to the Kingdom.

 

＊＊＊ 1st Reading ＊＊＊     

Isaiah 8:23-9:3 

Yet where there w

Was but anguish, darkness will disappear.

He has just afflicted the land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali;

but In the future he will confer glory on the way of the sea,

on the land beyond the Jordan – the pagans' Galilee.

The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light.

 

A light has dawned on those who live in the land of the shadow of death. 

You have enlarged the nation; you have increased their joy.

They rejoice before you, as people rejoice at harvest time as they rejoice in dividing the spoil.

For the yoke of their burden, the bar across their shoulders,

the rod of their oppressors, you have broken it as on the day of Midian.

 

＊＊＊ 2nd Reading ＊＊＊

1 Corinthians 1:10-13, 17

I beg of you, brothers, in the name of Christ Jesus, our Lord, to agree among yourselves,

and do away with divisions: please be perfectly united, with one mind and one judgment.

For I heard from people, of Cloe's house, about your rivalries. What I mean is this: some say,

"I am for Paul and others: "I am for Apollos," or "I am for Peter," or "I am for Christ."

 

Is Christ divided, or have I, Paul, been crucified for you? Have you been baptized in the name of Paul?

For Christ did not send me to baptize, but to proclaim his gospel.

And not with beautiful words! That would be like getting rid of the cross of Christ.

 

Ps 27:1, 4, 13-14 (18)

The Lord is my light and my salvation

 

＊＊＊ Gospel ＊＊＊     

Matthew 4:12-23

When Jesus heard that John had been arrested, he withdrew into Galilee.

He left Nazareth and went to live in Capernaum, a town by the lake of Galilee, at the border of Zebulun and Naphtali.

In this way, the word of the prophet Isaiah was fulfilled: Land of Zebulun and land of Naphtali, crossed by the Road of the Sea;

and you, who live beyond the Jordan, Galilee, land of pagans: The people who lived in darkness have seen a great light;

on those who live in the land of the shadow of death, a light has shone.

From that time on, Jesus began to proclaim his message, "Change your ways: the kingdom of heaven is near."

 

As Jesus walked by the lake of Galilee, he saw two brothers, Simon called Peter,

and Andrew his brother, casting a net into the lake, for they were fishermen. He said to them, "Come, follow me;

and I will make you fish for people." At once they left their nets and followed him.

He went on from there and saw two other brothers, James, the son of Zebedee, and his brother John,

in a boat with their father Zebedee, mending their nets. Jesus called them. At once, they left the boat,

and their father, and followed him. Jesus went around all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues,

proclaiming the good news of the kingdom, and curing all kinds of sickness and disease among the people

 

Gospel Reflection ：

Lectio Divina 

Despair no more; take courage.

 

Read: Isaiah prophesied that God would bring light to people who walked in darkness.

He reassured them that God would eventually send his anointed one to save them.

In the second reading, Paul encourages the Corinthians to avoid divisions

among themselves and be of one mind and heart.

The evangelist Matthew tells us that the promise of the prophet of old is fulfilled in the coming of the Lord Jesus,

the light of the world, the savior of God's people.

 

Reflect: Jesus began his public ministry not in the country's capital but farther north,

where there was a greater need, in the region considered the "Galilee of the Gentiles",

the worst place in the country. He began to work with the neglected, those on the peripheries,

those whom others considered not significant. He proclaimed his message there: "Repent, the Kingdom of heaven is near."

In short, he told the people. God has come near you to be with you and save you. Despair no more; take courage.

Change your ways! In the context of this proclamation, he also began recruiting others to help him in his mission,

to be his co-workers in bringing people back to God.

 

Pray: Lord Jesus, grant me a heart like Yours so that I may see Your wounded people as You see them.

 

Act: Reach out to those who are hurting and in need.