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SOCL, 2C

Updated: Mar 15


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Sunday January 19, 2025


There was a wedding in Cana of Galilee.


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At Cana's wedding feast, we witness the intersection of human celebration and divine transformation. Mary's attentive heart notices what's lacking, and her faith initiates Jesus' first sign. What begins as potential embarrassment becomes a revelation of glory. The ordinary water of ritual purification becomes extraordinary wine of celebration, suggesting how God often works: taking our everyday moments and infusing them with divine purpose. This miracle reveals not just Jesus' power, but his desire to transform our ordinary lives into occasions of extraordinary grace.


Listen



Reflect


(John 2:1-11)


-Mary notices the wine has run out and turns to Jesus with complete trust. Think about times when you've faced emptiness or lack. How do you bring your needs to Jesus? What gives you the confidence to trust in difficult moments?


-"Do whatever he tells you" - Mary's last recorded words capture the essence of discipleship. Reflect on moments when following Jesus' direction seemed unclear or challenging. What helped you move from hesitation to obedience?


-The servers fill the jars "to the brim" - their thorough obedience enables the miracle. Consider areas in your life where God might be asking for complete, not partial, trust. How fully do you respond to God's instructions?


-The best wine comes last, contrary to usual practice. Remember times when God's timing surprised you with unexpected blessings. How has waiting on God's "hour" enriched your faith journey?


Pray


Lord of abundance and transformation, who turned water into wine at Cana, help us trust like Mary, obey like the servants, and recognize Your glory in life's ordinary moments, that we too might become signs of Your transforming presence in the world.



 
 
 

SOCL, Baptism

Updated: Mar 16


ree

Sunday January 12, 2025


The heavens were opened and the voice of the Father thundered: This is my beloved Son, listen to him.


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The great scenes in the Bible, precisely because of their greatness and indeed uniqueness, can be difcult to access personally. For the Baptism of Jesus, there are at least two potential approaches. Firstly, we could go back in our minds to a life-changing turning point in our own lives, so that we can speak of before and after. Secondly, we could also turn to our own experience when we felt deeply the afrmation of our identity and worth as “the beloved” of someone. In the case of Jesus, these are combined: his identity and life are one, something we would like to be able say about ourselves too.


Listen



Reflect


(Luke 3:15-16, 21-22)


-The people were searching and John pointed them in the direction of Jesus. On your life’s journey who have been the John the Baptist people for you, people who have pointed you in the right direction?


-The Baptism of Jesus was a very special moment for him that afrmed him in his identity as Son of God and in his mission. Recall the experiences that afrmed you – either in your sense of who you are, or in relation to the direction you were taking in life.


-The Baptism of Jesus marks a transition point in his life, and the start of his public ministry. Recall the transition points in your own life. Where did you see the grace of God at work in those times?


-This experience of Jesus occurred when he was at prayer. What part has prayer played in opening you to being aware of God in your life? What part has prayer played in helping you through a transition point in your life?


Pray


Loving Father, who spoke Your delight over Jesus at His baptism, help us to stand humbly in Your transforming presence, to hear Your voice of love in our lives, and to receive Your Spirit's power for service and witness.



 
 
 

SOCL, Epiphany


ree

Sunday, January 05, 2025


We saw his star at its rising and have come to do him homage.


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In our deepest selves, each of us is a mystery: Where do I come from? Where am I going? Why am I here? How should I live? The risk in our present culture is to sleepwalk through life, to be satisfied with a merely material existence. But the human “project” is much greater. Each of us is really on a pilgrimage, or better on a quest — a quest to become my true self, in image and likeness of God. My truest self is found by being open to God, in whom we live and move and have our being. By following that star, by listening to our conscience and our inner selves, we come home to God.


Listen



Reflect


(Matthew 2:1-12)


-What is the star (the vision, hope or purpose) which lights up your journey?


-Like the wise men, our life journey is not one we travel alone. Who are the people who share you life journey now?


-The wise men travelled bearing gifts. What gift do you bring with you on the journey?


-At times the wise men lost sight of the star. What clouds have obscured your star?


-Who, or what, might be Herod for you now? What forces, within or without, could subvert the dream or goal?


Pray


Lord God of the nations, we have seen the star of your glory rising in splendour. The radiance of your incarnate Word pierces the darkness that covers the earth and signals the dawn of peace and justice. Make radiant the lives of your people with that same brightness, and beckon all the nations to walk as one in your light. We ask this through Jesus Christ, who lives and reigns for ever and ever. Amen.


References

-United States Conference of Catholic Bishops. (2024d, January 7). The Epiphany of the Lord. USCCB. https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/010724.cfm

-Sunday readings. (n.d.-s). Hearers of the Word. https://www.tarsus.ie/SundayReadings/


 
 
 
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