Sunday, February 14, 2016
Liturgical Season: 
III The Season of Great Fast
Special Significance: 
Garbo Sunday (Curing the Leper)
II Sunday of the Great Fast
Mar Xystus
Syro-Malankara Catholic Bala Sakhya Dinam

Lk 17:11-19

The Cleansing of Ten Lepers.* 11As he continued his journey to Jerusalem,e he traveled through Samaria and Galilee.* 12As he was entering a village, ten lepers met [him]. They stood at a distance from him 13and raised their voice, saying, “Jesus, Master! Have pity on us!”f 14And when he saw them, he said, “Go show yourselves to the priests.”* As they were going they were cleansed.g 15And one of them, realizing he had been healed, returned, glorifying God in a loud voice; 16and he fell at the feet of Jesus and thanked him. He was a Samaritan. 17Jesus said in reply, “Ten were cleansed, were they not? Where are the other nine? 18Has none but this foreigner returned to give thanks to God?” 19Then he said to him, “Stand up and go; your faith has saved you.”h

Nm 12:1-16

Jealousy of Aaron and Miriam. 1Miriam and Aaron spoke against Moses on the pretext of the Cushite woman he had married; for he had in fact married a Cushite woman.* 2They complained,* “Is it through Moses alone that the LORD has spoken? Has he not spoken through us also?” And the LORD heard this. 3a Now the man Moses was very humble, more than anyone else on earth. 4So at once the LORD said to Moses and Aaron and Miriam: Come out, you three, to the tent of meeting. And the three of them went. 5Then the LORD came down in a column of cloud, and standing at the entrance of the tent, called, “Aaron and Miriam.” When both came forward, 6the LORD said: Now listen to my words:

If there are prophets among you,

in visions I reveal myself to them,

in dreams I speak to them;

7Not so with my servant Moses!

Throughout my house he is worthy of trust:* b

8face to face I speak to him,c

plainly and not in riddles.

The likeness of the LORD he beholds.

Why, then, do you not fear to speak against my servant Moses? 9And so the LORD’s wrath flared against them, and he departed.

Miriam’s Punishment. 10Now the cloud withdrew from the tent, and there was Miriam,d stricken with a scaly infection, white as snow!* When Aaron turned toward Miriam and saw her stricken with snow-white scales, 11he said to Moses, “Ah, my lord! Please do not charge us with the sin that we have foolishly committed! 12Do not let her be like the stillborn baby that comes forth from its mother’s womb with its flesh half consumed.” 13Then Moses cried to the LORD, “Please, not this! Please, heal her!” 14But the LORD answered Moses: Suppose her father had spit in her face, would she not bear her shame for seven days? Let her be confined outside the camp for seven days; afterwards she may be brought back. 15So Miriam was confined outside the camp for seven days, and the people did not start out again until she was brought back.

16After that the people set out from Hazeroth and encamped in the wilderness of Paran.

2 Kgs 5:1-14

Elisha Cures Naaman’s Leprosy. 1Naaman, the army commander of the king of Aram, was highly esteemed and respected by his master, for through him the LORD had brought victory to Aram. But valiant as he was, the man was a leper.* 2Now the Arameans had captured from the land of Israel in a raid a little girl, who became the servant of Naaman’s wife. 3She said to her mistress, “If only my master would present himself to the prophet in Samaria! He would cure him of his leprosy.”

4Naaman went and told his master, “This is what the girl from the land of Israel said.” 5The king of Aram said, “Go. I will send along a letter to the king of Israel.” So Naaman set out, taking along ten silver talents, six thousand gold pieces, and ten festal garments.

6He brought the king of Israel the letter, which read: “With this letter I am sending my servant Naaman to you, that you may cure him of his leprosy.” 7When he read the letter, the king of Israel tore his garments and exclaimed: “Am I a god with power over life and death, that this man should send someone for me to cure him of leprosy? Take note! You can see he is only looking for a quarrel with me!”a 8When Elisha, the man of God, heard that the king of Israel had torn his garments, he sent word to the king: “Why have you torn your garments? Let him come to me and find out that there is a prophet in Israel.”

9Naaman came with his horses and chariot and stopped at the door of Elisha’s house. 10Elisha sent him the message: “Go and wash seven times in the Jordan, and your flesh will heal, and you will be clean.”b 11But Naaman went away angry, saying, “I thought that he would surely come out to me and stand there to call on the name of the LORD his God, and would move his hand over the place, and thus cure the leprous spot. 12Are not the rivers of Damascus, the Abana and the Pharpar, better than all the waters of Israel? Could I not wash in them and be cleansed?”* With this, he turned about in anger and left.

13But his servants came up and reasoned with him: “My father, if the prophet told you to do something extraordinary, would you not do it? All the more since he told you, ‘Wash, and be clean’?” 14So Naaman went down and plunged into the Jordan seven times, according to the word of the man of God. His flesh became again like the flesh of a little child, and he was clean.c

Ps 32:1-11

1aOf David. A maskil.

Blessed is the one whose fault is removed,

whose sin is forgiven.

2Blessed is the man to whom the LORD imputes no guilt,

in whose spirit is no deceit.

3Because I kept silent,* my bones wasted away;

I groaned all day long.b

4For day and night your hand was heavy upon me;

my strength withered as in dry summer heat.

Selah

5Then I declared my sin to you;

my guilt I did not hide.c

I said, “I confess my transgression to the LORD,”

and you took away the guilt of my sin.

Selah

6Therefore every loyal person should pray to you

in time of distress.

Though flood waters* threaten,

they will never reach him.d

7You are my shelter; you guard me from distress;

with joyful shouts of deliverance you surround me.

Selah

8I will instruct you and show you the way you should walk,

give you counsel with my eye upon you.

9Do not be like a horse or mule, without understanding;

with bit and bridle their temper is curbed,

else they will not come to you.

10Many are the sorrows of the wicked one,

but mercy surrounds the one who trusts in the LORD.

11Be glad in the LORD and rejoice, you righteous;

exult, all you upright of heart.e

Is 59:1-8

1* No, the hand of the LORD is not too short to save,

nor his ear too dull to hear.a

2Rather, it is your crimes

that separate you from your God,

It is your sins that make him hide his face

so that he does not hear you.

3For your hands are defiled with blood,

and your fingers with crime;

Your lips speak falsehood,

and your tongue utters deceit.b

4No one brings suit justly,

no one pleads truthfully;

They trust an empty plea and tell lies;

they conceive mischief and bring forth malice.

5* They hatch adders’ eggs,

and weave spiders’ webs:

Whoever eats the eggs will die,

if one of them is crushed, it will hatch a viper;c

6Their webs cannot serve as clothing,

nor can they cover themselves with their works.

Their works are evil works,

and deeds of violence are in their hands.

7Their feet run to evil,

and they hasten to shed innocent blood;

Their thoughts are thoughts of wickedness,

violence and destruction are on their highways.d

8The way of peace they know not,

and there is no justice on their paths;

Their roads they have made crooked,

no one who walks in them knows peace.

Jas 1:12-18

Temptation. 12g Blessed is the man who perseveres in temptation,* for when he has been proved he will receive the crown of life that he promised to those who love him. 13* No one experiencing temptation should say, “I am being tempted by God”; for God is not subject to temptation to evil, and he himself tempts no one.h 14Rather, each person is tempted when he is lured and enticed by his own desire. 15Then desire conceives and brings forth sin, and when sin reaches maturity it gives birth to death.

16* Do not be deceived, my beloved brothers: 17all good giving and every perfect gift* is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no alteration or shadow caused by change. 18i He willed to give us birth by the word of truth that we may be a kind of firstfruits of his creatures.*

Ti 2:1-10

Christian Behavior.* 1As for yourself, you must say what is consistent with sound doctrine, namely,a 2that older men should be temperate, dignified, self-controlled, sound in faith, love, and endurance. 3Similarly, older women should be reverent in their behavior, not slanderers, not addicted to drink, teaching what is good, 4so that they may train younger women to love their husbands and children, 5to be self-controlled, chaste, good homemakers, under the control of their husbands, so that the word of God may not be discredited.b

6Urge the younger men, similarly, to control themselves, 7showing yourself as a model of good deeds in every respect, with integrity in your teaching, dignity, 8and sound speech that cannot be criticized, so that the opponent will be put to shame without anything bad to say about us.

9Slaves are to be under the control of their masters in all respects, giving them satisfaction, not talking back to themc 10or stealing from them, but exhibiting complete good faith, so as to adorn the doctrine of God our savior in every way.d

Mk 1:40-45

The Cleansing of a Leper. 40o A leper* came to him [and kneeling down] begged him and said, “If you wish, you can make me clean.” 41Moved with pity, he stretched out his hand, touched him, and said to him, “I do will it. Be made clean.”p 42The leprosy left him immediately, and he was made clean.q 43Then, warning him sternly, he dismissed him at once. 44Then he said to him, “See that you tell no one anything, but go, show yourself to the priest and offer for your cleansing what Moses prescribed; that will be proof for them.”r 45The man went away and began to publicize the whole matter. He spread the report abroad so that it was impossible for Jesus to enter a town openly. He remained outside in deserted places, and people kept coming to him from everywhere.