Sunday, January 29, 2023
Liturgical Season: 
II The Season of Yaldo-Denho
Special Significance: 
IV Sunday after Denho
St. Ignatius the Fiery
Feast of Bishop Joshua Mar Ignathios
(Nineveh fast will start tomorrow. Remind the faithful about the special prayers, 40 prostration, and abstinence)

Lk 7:18-23

The Messengers from John the Baptist.* 18f The disciples of John told him about all these things. John summoned two of his disciples 19and sent them to the Lord to ask, “Are you the one who is to come, or should we look for another?”g 20When the men came to him, they said, “John the Baptist has sent us to you to ask, ‘Are you the one who is to come, or should we look for another?’” 21At that time he cured many of their diseases, sufferings, and evil spirits; he also granted sight to many who were blind. 22And he said to them in reply, “Go and tell John what you have seen and heard: the blind regain their sight, the lame walk, lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, the poor have the good news proclaimed to them.h 23And blessed is the one who takes no offense at me.”*

Gen 2:5-17

there was no field shrub on earth and no grass of the field had sprouted, for the LORD God had sent no rain upon the earth and there was no man to till the ground, but a stream was welling up out of the earth and watering all the surface of the ground— then the LORD God formed the man out of the dust of the ground and blew into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living being.

The LORD God planted a garden in Eden, in the east, and placed there the man whom he had formed. Out of the ground the LORD God made grow every tree that was delightful to look at and good for food, with the tree of life in the middle of the garden and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.

A river rises in Eden to water the garden; beyond there it divides and becomes four branches. The name of the first is the Pishon; it is the one that winds through the whole land of Havilah, where there is gold. The gold of that land is good; bd

1 Sam 16:1-13

The LORD said to Samuel: How long will you grieve for Saul, whom I have rejected as king of Israel? Fill your horn with oil, and be on your way. I am sending you to Jesse of Bethlehem, for from among his sons I have decided on a king. But Samuel replied: “How can I go? Saul will hear of it and kill me.” To this the LORD answered: Take a heifer along and say, “I have come to sacrifice to the LORD.” Invite Jesse to the sacrifice, and I myself will tell you what to do; you are to anoint for me the one I point out to you.

Samuel did as the LORD had commanded him. When he entered Bethlehem, the elders of the city came trembling to meet him and asked, “Is your visit peaceful, O seer?” He replied: “Yes! I have come to sacrifice to the LORD. So purify yourselves and celebrate with me today.” He also had Jesse and his sons purify themselves and invited them to the sacrifice. As they ca

Ps 89:20-33

20Then you spoke in vision;k

to your faithful ones you said:

“I have set a leader over the warriors;

I have raised up a chosen one from the people.

21I have chosen David, my servant;

with my holy oil I have anointed him.

22My hand will be with him;l

my arm will make him strong.

23No enemy shall outwit him,

nor shall the wicked defeat him.

24I will crush his foes before him,

strike down those who hate him.

25My faithfulness and mercy will be with him;

through my name his horn will be exalted.

26*I will set his hand upon the sea,

his right hand upon the rivers.

27He shall cry to me, ‘You are my father,m

my God, the Rock of my salvation!’

28I myself make him the firstborn,

Most High* over the kings of the earth.

29Forever I will maintain my mercy for him;n

my covenant with him stands firm.

30I will establish his dynasty forever,

his throne as the days of the heavens.

31If his descendants forsake my teaching,o

do not follow my decrees,

32If they fail to observe my statutes,

do not keep my commandments,

33I will punish their crime with a rod

and their guilt with blows.

Is 40:27-31

27Why, O Jacob, do you say,*

and declare, O Israel,

“My way is hidden from the LORD,

and my right is disregarded by my God”?

28Do you not know?

Have you not heard?

The LORD is God from of old,

creator of the ends of the earth.

He does not faint or grow weary,

and his knowledge is beyond scrutiny.

29He gives power to the faint,

abundant strength to the weak.

30Though young men faint and grow weary,

and youths stagger and fall,

31They that hope in the LORD will renew their strength,

they will soar on eagles’ wings;

They will run and not grow weary,

walk and not grow faint.

1 Cor 4:6-13

Paul’s Life as Pattern.* 6I have applied these things to myself and Apollos for your benefit, brothers, so that you may learn from us not to go beyond what is written,* so that none of you will be inflated with pride in favor of one person over against another. 7Who confers distinction upon you? What do you possess that you have not received? But if you have received it, why are you boasting as if you did not receive it? 8You are already satisfied; you have already grown rich; you have become kings* without us! Indeed, I wish that you had become kings, so that we also might become kings with you.

9* For as I see it, God has exhibited us apostles as the last of all, like people sentenced to death, since we have become a spectacle to the world, to angels and human beings alike.c 10We are fools on Christ’s account, but you are wise in Christ; we are weak, but you are strong; you are held in honor, but we in disrepute.d 11To this very hour we go hungry and thirsty, we are poorly clad and roughly treated, we wander about homelesse 12and we toil, working with our own hands. When ridiculed, we bless; when persecuted, we endure;f 13when slandered, we respond gently. We have become like the world’s rubbish, the scum of all, to this very moment.

Mk 6:1-6

The Rejection at Nazareth. 1a He departed from there and came to his native place,* accompanied by his disciples. 2* When the sabbath came he began to teach in the synagogue, and many who heard him were astonished. They said, “Where did this man get all this? What kind of wisdom has been given him? What mighty deeds are wrought by his hands! 3b Is he not the carpenter,* the son of Mary, and the brother of James and Joses and Judas and Simon? And are not his sisters here with us?” And they took offense at him. 4* c Jesus said to them, “A prophet is not without honor except in his native place and among his own kin and in his own house.” 5So he was not able to perform any mighty deed there,* apart from curing a few sick people by laying his hands on them. 6He was amazed at their lack of faith.