Daily Catholic Mass Readings for January 17, 2025
First Reading: Hebrews 4.1-5, 11
1Therefore, while the promise of entering his rest still stands, let us fear lest any of you should seem to have failed to reach it.2For good news came to us just as to them, but the message they heard did not benefit them, because they were not united by faith with those who listened.3For we who have believed enter that rest, as he has said, "As I swore in my wrath, 'They shall not enter my rest,'"although his works were finished from the foundation of the world.4For he has somewhere spoken of the seventh day in this way: "And God rested on the seventh day from all his works."5And again in this passage he said, "They shall not enter my rest."11Let us therefore strive to enter that rest, so that no one may fall by the same sort of disobedience.
Psalm 78
1Give ear, O my people, to my teaching; incline your ears to the words of my mouth!2I will open my mouth in a parable; I will utter dark sayings from of old,3things that we have heard and known, that our fathers have told us.4We will not hide them from their children, but tell to the coming generation the glorious deeds of the LORD, and his might, and the wonders that he has done.5He established a testimony in Jacob and appointed a law in Israel, which he commanded our fathers to teach to their children,6that the next generation might know them, the children yet unborn, and arise and tell them to their children,7so that they should set their hope in God and not forget the works of God, but keep his commandments;8and that they should not be like their fathers, a stubborn and rebellious generation, a generation whose heart was not steadfast, whose spirit was not faithful to God.9The Ephraimites, armed with the bow, turned back on the day of battle.10They did not keep God's covenant, but refused to walk according to his law.11They forgot his works and the wonders that he had shown them.12In the sight of their fathers he performed wonders in the land of Egypt, in the fields of Zoan.13He divided the sea and let them pass through it, and made the waters stand like a heap.14In the daytime he led them with a cloud, and all the night with a fiery light.15He split rocks in the wilderness and gave them drink abundantly as from the deep.16He made streams come out of the rock and caused waters to flow down like rivers.17Yet they sinned still more against him, rebelling against the Most High in the desert.18They tested God in their heart by demanding the food they craved.19They spoke against God, saying, "Can God spread a table in the wilderness?20He struck the rock so that water gushed out and streams overflowed. Can he also give bread or provide meat for his people?"21Therefore, when the LORD heard, he was full of wrath; a fire was kindled against Jacob; his anger rose against Israel,22because they did not believe in God and did not trust his saving power.23Yet he commanded the skies above and opened the doors of heaven,24and he rained down on them manna to eat and gave them the grain of heaven.25Man ate of the bread of the angels; he sent them food in abundance.26He caused the east wind to blow in the heavens, and by his power he led out the south wind;27he rained meat on them like dust, winged birds like the sand of the seas;28he let them fall in the midst of their camp, all around their dwellings.29And they ate and were well filled, for he gave them what they craved.30But before they had satisfied their craving, while the food was still in their mouths,31the anger of God rose against them, and he killed the strongest of them and laid low the young men of Israel.32In spite of all this, they still sinned; despite his wonders, they did not believe.33So he made their days vanish like a breath, and their years in terror.34When he killed them, they sought him; they repented and sought God earnestly.35They remembered that God was their rock, the Most High God their redeemer.36But they flattered him with their mouths; they lied to him with their tongues.37Their heart was not steadfast toward him; they were not faithful to his covenant.38Yet he, being compassionate, atoned for their iniquity and did not destroy them; he restrained his anger often and did not stir up all his wrath.39He remembered that they were but flesh, a wind that passes and comes not again.40How often they rebelled against him in the wilderness and grieved him in the desert!41They tested God again and again and provoked the Holy One of Israel.42They did not remember his power or the day when he redeemed them from the foe,43when he performed his signs in Egypt and his marvels in the fields of Zoan.44He turned their rivers to blood, so that they could not drink of their streams.45He sent among them swarms of flies, which devoured them, and frogs, which destroyed them.46He gave their crops to the destroying locust and the fruit of their labor to the locust.47He destroyed their vines with hail and their sycamores with frost.48He gave over their cattle to the hail and their flocks to thunderbolts.49He let loose on them his burning anger, wrath, indignation, and distress, a company of destroying angels.50He made a path for his anger; he did not spare them from death, but gave their lives over to the plague.51He struck down every firstborn in Egypt, the firstfruits of their strength in the tents of Ham.52Then he led out his people like sheep and guided them in the wilderness like a flock.53He led them in safety, so that they were not afraid, but the sea overwhelmed their enemies.54And he brought them to his holy land, to the mountain which his right hand had won.55He drove out nations before them; he apportioned them for a possession and settled the tribes of Israel in their tents.56Yet they tested and rebelled against the Most High God and did not keep his testimonies,57but turned away and acted treacherously like their fathers; they twisted like a deceitful bow.58For they provoked him to anger with their high places; they moved him to jealousy with their idols.59When God heard, he was full of wrath, and he utterly rejected Israel.60He forsook his dwelling at Shiloh, the tent where he dwelt among mankind,61and delivered his power to captivity, his glory to the hand of the foe.62He gave his people over to the sword and vented his wrath on his heritage.63Fire devoured their young men, and their young women had no marriage song.64Their priests fell by the sword, and their widows made no lamentation.65Then the Lord awoke as from sleep, like a strong man shouting because of wine.66And he put his adversaries to rout; he put them to everlasting shame.67He rejected the tent of Joseph; he did not choose the tribe of Ephraim,68but he chose the tribe of Judah, Mount Zion, which he loves.69He built his sanctuary like the high heavens, like the earth, which he has founded forever.70He chose David his servant and took him from the sheepfolds;71from following the nursing ewes he brought him to shepherd Jacob his people, Israel his inheritance.72With upright heart he shepherded them and guided them with his skillful hand.
Gospel: Mark 2.1-12
1And when he returned to Capernaum after some days, it was reported that he was at home.2And many were gathered together, so that there was no more room, not even at the door. And he was preaching the word to them.3And they came, bringing to him a paralytic carried by four men.4And 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 bed on which the paralytic lay.5And when Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralytic, "My son, your sins are forgiven."6Now some of the scribes were sitting there, questioning in their hearts,7"Why does this man speak like that? He is blaspheming! Who can forgive sins but God alone?"8And immediately Jesus, perceiving in his spirit that they thus questioned within themselves, said to them, "Why do you question these things in your hearts?9Which is easier, to say to the paralytic, 'Your sins are forgiven,' or to say, 'Rise, take up your bed and walk'?10But 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, pick up your bed, and go home."12And he rose and immediately picked up his bed and went out before them all, so that they were all amazed and glorified God, saying, "We never saw anything like this!"
Sermon
The readings today invite us to reflect on the power of faith and the promise of God’s rest. In the first reading from Hebrews, we are reminded that God’s rest is not merely a physical reprieve but a spiritual state of trust and surrender. The author warns us not to fall into the same disbelief as those who heard God’s Word but did not act on it. True faith requires us to trust in God’s promises, even when the journey seems uncertain. The passage emphasizes that God’s works are complete, and His rest is available to those who believe.
In the Gospel, Mark presents a vivid scene of Jesus healing a paralytic man. The faith of the man’s friends, who went to great lengths to bring him to Jesus, is what moves the Lord to act. Jesus first forgives the man’s sins, addressing the deeper spiritual paralysis before healing his physical condition. This miracle not only demonstrates Jesus’ authority to forgive sins but also reveals that true healing comes from trusting in God’s mercy and power. The scribes’ skepticism contrasts sharply with the faith of the paralytic and his friends, reminding us that faith is not about understanding everything but about surrendering to God’s will.
These readings call us to examine our own faith. Do we, like the paralytic’s friends, trust God enough to bring our struggles and sins to Him? Or do we, like the scribes, allow doubt and fear to harden our hearts? The promise of God’s rest is not just a future hope but a present reality for those who trust in Him. Let us strive to live with the kind of active, bold faith that leads us to surrender our lives to God, knowing that He is always at work in us, even when we cannot see it.