The Memorial of St SCHOLASTICA

1 Kgs 8:1-7.9-13, Mk 6:53-56. The Jews revered their Temple in Jerusalem as God’s earthly dwelling. It mirrored the God’s presence throughout the universe and was for them the focal-place of contact between God and His chosen people. The moment when the Ark of the Covenant was brought into the Temple signified the moment when the Covenant of God was renewed, which king Solomon celebrated with the large offering of sacrifices to God as described in the first reading. The dedication of the Temple and the arrival of the Ark of the Covenant is a prefigurement of what would come at the moment when God renewed His Covenant, one final time and this time with a new Covenant that He would seal with His people with a new sacrifice and this one is the sacrifice which Jesus would make on the Altar of His Cross at Calvary. For Christ is indeed the 'Mediator and Bearer' of God’s New Covenant.

As a 'Mediator and Bearer' of God’s New Covenant, people used whatever means possible to reach Him. In today's Gospel, Jesus was not presented as doing anything, not even uttering a word. Yet, healing flowed in the lives of those who touched Him. We do not need to lose anytime in identifying the source of their healing: FAITH. If we have little faith ‘the size of a mustard seed', even the mountain would obediently move at our command. As we celebrate the memorial of St Scholastica, the woman of great faith whose prayer brought down rain and convinced her brother St Benedict, that God approved of their encounter. Today we are called to imitate her faith and practice her virtue, for she was deeply convinced that the Lord is our salvation in every situation. 

May the Lord be with us and guide us in our work! Amen!! Good morning and have a productive week!!!