February 11, 2021 Thursday of the Fifth Week in Ordinary Time (Lectionary: 332)
Reading I Gn 2:18-25
The LORD God said:
“It is not good for the man to be alone.
I will make a suitable partner for him.”
So the LORD God formed out of the ground
various wild animals and various birds of the air,
and he brought them to the man to see what he would call them;
whatever the man called each of them would be its name.
The man gave names to all the cattle,
all the birds of the air, and all the wild animals;
but none proved to be the suitable partner for the man.
So the LORD God cast a deep sleep on the man,
and while he was asleep, he took out one of his ribs
and closed up its place with flesh.
The LORD God then built up into a woman
the rib that he had taken from the man.
When he brought her to the man, the man said:
“This one, at last, is bone of my bones
and flesh of my flesh;
this one shall be called ‘woman,’
for out of ‘her man’ this one has been taken.”
That is why a man leaves his father and mother
and clings to his wife,
and the two of them become one flesh.
The man and his wife were both naked, yet they felt no shame.
Responsorial Psalm 128:1-2, 3, 4-5
R. (see 1a) Blessed are those who fear the Lord.
Blessed are you who fear the LORD,
who walk in his ways!
For you shall eat the fruit of your handiwork;
blessed shall you be, and favored.
R. Blessed are those who fear the Lord.
Your wife shall be like a fruitful vine
in the recesses of your home;
Your children like olive plants
around your table.
R. Blessed are those who fear the Lord.
Behold, thus is the man blessed
who fears the LORD.
The LORD bless you from Zion:
may you see the prosperity of Jerusalem
all the days of your life.
R. Blessed are those who fear the Lord.
Alleluia Jas 1:21bc
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
Humbly welcome the word that has been planted in you
and is able to save your souls.
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
Gospel Mk 7:24-30
Jesus went to the district of Tyre.
He entered a house and wanted no one to know about it,
but he could not escape notice.
Soon a woman whose daughter had an unclean spirit heard about him.
She came and fell at his feet.
The woman was a Greek, a Syrophoenician by birth,
and she begged him to drive the demon out of her daughter.
He said to her, “Let the children be fed first.
For it is not right to take the food of the children
and throw it to the dogs.”
She replied and said to him,
“Lord, even the dogs under the table eat the children’s scraps.”
Then he said to her, “For saying this, you may go.
The demon has gone out of your daughter.”
When the woman went home, she found the child lying in bed
and the demon gone.
By Anna Masica
Sometimes, I find it hard to find my place in this world. I go through spurts of time, especially in the winter months, feeling as if I don’t have a place or I don’t know what my purpose is. It takes centering and regrounding in my belief to remember that
God did not make anything or anyone in this galaxy to exist without a purpose.
While I lose what that may be, it does not mean others don’t see why I am here or that I am lacking purpose. God created everything around me out of the Earth and called each living thing by name. In that strength and grace, He made me.
Even on the hardest days, I push myself to remember I am here for a reason and that matters.
I am here to fight for the voices of the marginalized, I am here to be a sister, daughter, aunt, and friend to those around me. I am here to find my purpose through the life I live. And I am here to live that life to the absolute fullest.
Some days feeling my purpose is easier than others, but nonetheless, I continue to try and remind myself each and every day that I matter and He calls me by name.
In that, I am able to find my place in this world.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Anna Masica is a recent college graduate living in Cleveland, OH. She grew up in a faith-filled family and attended a Jesuit, Catholic college and takes the ideals she learned through both into every step of her life today. Anna works her first adult job at a remote tech start-up and is learning more and more each day how to navigate her job, and even moreso, her adult life, while keeping God at the center. She loves finding grace and peace in music and the people and world around her. To see more life through Anna’s eyes, follow her here.