Compare the majesty, grandeur, and the awe-inspiring presence of God in the Ark that Solomon brought to Jerusalem,

with the simplicity, ordinariness, familiarity, down-to-earthiness Jesus displays in rubbing shoulders with the people around him!

 

If the Ark evoked fear and trembling, and no one dared to touch the Ark because touching the Ark could get them killed,

“God-with-Us”, the Ark becoming Flesh, to dwell amidst us.

  

St. Agatha, virgin & martyr

 ＊＊＊ 1st Reading ＊＊＊

1 Kings 8:1-7, 9-13

Then Solomon assembled

Before him in Jerusalem the elders of Israel and all the heads of the tribes, as well as the leaders of the ancestral houses of the Israelites, to bring up the Ark of the Covenant of Yahweh from the city of David, which is Zion.

All the Israelites assembled near king Solomon in the month of Ethanim, the seventh month. When all the elders of Israel arrived, the priests carried the Ark of Yahweh and brought it up together with the Tent of Meeting and all the holy vessels that were in the tent. After the priests and Levites had brought them up, king Solomon with the entire congregation of Israel that had assembled before him and were with him before the Ark, sacrificed so many sheep and oxen that they could neither be counted nor numbered.

 

Then the priests laid the Ark of the Covenant of Yahweh in its place in the inner Sanctuary of the house-the Most Holy Place- underneath the wings of the cherubim. The cherubim had their wings spread out over the place of the ark, providing a covering above the Ark and its poles.

There was nothing in the Ark except the two tablets of stone which Moses placed there at Horeb, where Yahweh made a Covenant with the Israelites when they came out of the land of Egypt. And when the priests came out of the Holy Place, such a cloud filled Yahweh's house that the priests could not continue to minister. Indeed, the glory of Yahweh filled his house. Then Solomon said, "Yahweh has said that he would dwell in thick darkness. So, the house I have built you will be your house, a place for you to dwell in forever."

 

Ps 132:6-7, 8-10 Lord, go up to the place of your rest!

 

＊＊＊ Gospel ＊＊＊

Gospel: Mark 6:53-56

Having crossed the lake, they came ashore at Gennesaret, where they tied up the boat. As soon as they landed, people recognized Jesus, and ran to spread the news throughout the countryside. Wherever he was, they brought to him the sick lying on their mats; and wherever he went, to villages, towns or farms, they laid the sick in the marketplace, and begged him to let them touch just the fringe of his cloak. And all who touched him were cured.

 

Gospel Reflection ：

"Prayer is relationship." 

On the one hand, we touch the divine reality when we pray. On the other hand, with God's divine touch, our life can become a prayer itself. Prayer is relationship. Today's Gospel highlights Jesus' healing ministry upon crossing the lake and arriving at the shore of Gennesaret. The Gospel says that all those who touched Jesus were healed.

 

We may reflect that all those who touched Jesus were initiated into a kind of relationship with him. They were not simply cured of their illnesses. Rather, they began their journey of faith with the Lord. Touched by the divine, their lives were never the same again. With sickness, we come to terms with our human condition which is mortal and subject to deterioration.

 

With human limitations, we also come to terms with our need for God. God always finds ways to reach out to us. However, we normally find a way to touch God only when we feel that there is a need to do so. May we desire not only to be healed of our infirmities but also to relate well with God and with each other.