The opening antiphon today is from Psalm 95 – O come, let us worship God and bow low before our God who
made us, for he is the Lord our God. We sing of this in our opening hymn, “God, We Praise You”, originally attributed to St. Nicolas in the 4th century:
God, we praise you! God, we bless you!
God, we name you sovereign Lord!
Mighty King whom angels worship, Father, by your Church adored:
All creation shows your glory, Heaven and
earth draw near your throne,
Singing, “Holy, holy, holy” Lord of hosts
and God alone!
We continue the Gospel of Mark today as we are told of Jesus’ continued ministry throughout the whole of Galilee. He cures Simon’s mother-in-law of a fever, as well as others who were sick or possessed by demons. The whole of Galilee is learning of Christ and His mission. We walk alongside them, continuing to learn of Him who ultimately came to save us. We likewise continue to sing songs, praising Him, learning how to answer His call and how to serve Him in our lives. “Our God is Here” speaks of our worship of God: “And we cry ‘Holy! Holy! Holy are you!” – a nice reference once again to the opening antiphon for today. At Communion in our second song, we sing the words that Christ is just now starting to preach in the Gospel passages – “I am the Bread… I am the Way… I am the Truth; if you follow close to me, you will know me in your heart, and my word shall make you free.” These are the words that we will be hearing about as Christ continues His ministry. Once again, we are sent forth from our liturgy with our own mission of ministry and how we can serve Him in our lives:
We are called to act with justice,
We are called to love tenderly
We are called to serve one another;
To walk humbly with God.
(“We Are Called” by D. Haas)