28 January 2027 · Latin Rite
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“He said to them, “Is a lamp brought in to be put under the bushel basket, or under the bed, and not on the lampstand?” Mark 4:21
Hebrews tells us that we have “confidence to enter the sanctuary by the blood of Jesus, by the new and living way that he opened for us through the curtain (that is, through his flesh)”. So: “let us approach with a true heart in full assurance of faith… Let us hold fast to the confession of our hope without wavering… And let us consider how to provoke one another to love and good deeds, not neglecting to meet together.” Faith, hope and love, lived in community, especially in the Sunday assembly.
Jesus asks: “Is a lamp brought in to be put under the bushel basket?” The light of the Gospel is meant to shine. Few have let it shine more brightly than St Thomas Aquinas, the Dominican friar whose mind served the faith with clarity and humility. He taught that faith and reason are two lights from the one God. Near the end of his life, after an experience at Mass, he stopped writing, saying that all he had written seemed like straw compared with what he had seen. He wrote the hymns we sing before the Blessed Sacrament: Pange lingua, Tantum ergo, Adoro te devote. His learning ended in adoration.
Theme: “Is a lamp… put under the bushel basket?”
St Thomas Aquinas: confident faith, community, and the light that ends in adoration.
“Who shall ascend the hill of the LORD? And who shall stand in his holy place? Those who have clean hands and pure hearts, who do not lift up their souls to what is false, and do not swear deceitfully.” Psalm 24:3–4
“let us approach with a true heart in full assurance of faith, with our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water.” Hebrews 10:22
Apply: Prepare for Communion with a short act of contrition.
“How very good and pleasant it is when kindred live together in unity!” Psalm 133:1
“not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day approaching.” Hebrews 10:25
Apply: Invite someone to Sunday Mass.
“Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path.” Psalm 119:105
“He said to them, “Is a lamp brought in to be put under the bushel basket, or under the bed, and not on the lampstand?” Mark 4:21
Apply: Read one paragraph of the Catechism each day.
Faith is confident, communal and luminous.
Like Thomas, let our study lead us to adore.
Take-home resolution: Spend time before the Blessed Sacrament this week.
Dear friends, Hebrews says that through the blood of Jesus we have confidence to enter the sanctuary, by the new and living way that he opened for us (Hebrews 10:19–20). So let us approach with a true heart in full assurance of faith.
It adds: let us consider how to provoke one another to love and good deeds, not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some (Hebrews 10:24–25). Faith is lived together, especially at Sunday Mass.
Jesus says a lamp is not put under a basket but on the lampstand (Mark 4:21). St Thomas Aquinas let the light of faith shine through his mind. He showed that faith and reason are friends, two lights from one God.
Yet his learning ended in adoration. He wrote the hymns we sing before the Blessed Sacrament. Let us study our faith and kneel before the Lord. Amen.
Children, St Thomas Aquinas was very clever, but he loved Jesus in the Eucharist most of all. Let us learn about our faith and pray to Jesus!
O God, who made Saint Thomas Aquinas outstanding in his zeal for holiness and his study of sacred doctrine, grant us, we pray, that we may understand what he taught and imitate what he accomplished. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, God, for ever and ever. Amen.
On the memorial of St Thomas Aquinas, the readings speak of two things he gave his life to: drawing near to God, and passing on the light. Hebrews turns from teaching to encouragement, inviting us to approach, to hold fast, and to stir one another up. Mark asks a simple question about a lamp: who would hide it? The key words are approach, lamp and measure.
Setting.
The word “Therefore” marks a turning point. The long argument about Christ's priesthood is finished, and from here the author draws out what it means for daily life. The sanctuary that only the high priest could enter, once a year, is now open.
Structure.
Key words.
Verse by verse.
“by the new and living way that he opened for us through the curtain (that is, through his flesh),” (10:20)
The way into God's presence is not a road or a rule, but the humanity of Jesus, offered and risen.
“let us approach with a true heart in full assurance of faith, with our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water.” (10:22)
These words recall the washing and sprinkling of priests (Exodus 29:4, 21) and the promise of clean water in Ezekiel 36:25. Many commentators hear in them a reference to baptism, which opens the way for every Christian.
“not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another,” (10:25)
Even in the first generation some were staying away. The word used here for meeting (episynagōgē) means a gathering together.
How the Church reads it.
The Catechism cites this very passage when it teaches about the Sunday assembly: the custom of Christians gathering goes back to the beginnings of the apostolic age (CCC 2178). Faith, hope and love here are not ideas but three movements: toward God, in steadfastness, and toward one another. St Thomas Aquinas, who lectured on Hebrews, knew that the whole of theology exists for this approach to God.
Setting.
These short sayings follow the explanation of the sower and continue its theme. Jesus has just said that the secret is given to those who stay with him. Now he says that what is given in secret is meant to shine.
Structure.
Key words.
Verse by verse.
“He said to them, “Is a lamp brought in to be put under the bushel basket, or under the bed, and not on the lampstand?” (4:21)
The Greek says literally “Does the lamp come…”. Some commentators see here a hint that Jesus himself is the light who has come. Either way, the disciples are not given light for themselves alone.
“And he said to them, “Pay attention to what you hear; the measure you give will be the measure you get, and still more will be given you.” (4:24)
The Greek is vivid: “See what you hear.” The passive “will be given” is a reverent way of saying that God gives, and he gives beyond the measure.
“For to those who have, more will be given; and from those who have nothing, even what they have will be taken away.”” (4:25)
It sounds unjust if taken as a rule about money. In this chapter it is about hearing. The one who receives the word grows in understanding; the one who neglects it loses even what he had heard.
How the Church reads it.
The Second Vatican Council begins its teaching on the Church with this image: Christ is the light of the nations, and that light shines on the face of the Church (Lumen Gentium 1). St Thomas Aquinas gave the lamp a famous expression. As it is greater to give light than only to shine, he says, so it is greater to hand on to others what one has contemplated than only to contemplate (Summa Theologiae II-II, q. 188, a. 6, in substance).
Why is it “unfair” that more is given to the one who has?
It is not a rule about possessions. In Mark 4 the one who “has” is the one who has listened. Anyone who has learned a language or a trade knows the same thing: what we use grows, and what we neglect fades.
St Thomas Aquinas (about 1225–1274) was an Italian Dominican friar, priest and Doctor of the Church. His Summa Theologiae remained unfinished at his death, and tradition credits him with the texts of the Mass and Office of Corpus Christi, among them the Pange lingua. The date of his memorial, 28 January, recalls the transfer of his relics to Toulouse in 1369. He is a fitting patron for teachers, catechists and students.