SOCL, 6C

Sunday February 16, 2025

(Septuagesima)

See

Jesus's Beatitudes shatter our metrics of success like a hammer striking glass. Where we chase comfort, Jesus exalts deprivation. Where we cultivate influence, He blesses the excluded. Where we pursue satisfaction, He pronounces blessing on the hungry. These are not gentle suggestions but explosive inversions of everything our society holds dear.

The poor, the hungry, the grieving – these are not conditions to escape but portals through which divine grace floods in. Our desperate attempts to avoid suffering and secure comfort become the very barriers that block our path to true blessing. Each "woe" Jesus pronounces falls like a thunderclap on our carefully constructed fortresses of self-sufficiency.

Modern life tempts us to curate our image, satisfy every appetite, and accumulate endless security. Yet Jesus' words strip away these illusions, revealing that our emptiness, not our fullness, creates space for God's kingdom to take root. The path to blessing runs straight through the valley of vulnerability.

Listen

Jeremiah 17:5-8; Psalm 1; 1 Corinthians 15:12, 16-20; Luke 6:17, 20-26

Reflect

(Luke 6:17, 20-26)

-Stand with Jesus on that level ground, surrounded by the desperate and broken crowd. How have you been running from your own poverty – spiritual, emotional, or material? What would it mean to embrace it as a gateway to God's kingdom?

-Picture the hungry multitude hanging on Jesus's words. Consider the empty spaces in your own life that you rush to fill with food, entertainment, or activity. Can you let that hunger become holy ground?

-Enter into the scene of disciples being denounced and excluded. Where in your life have you compromised your values to maintain others' approval? What truth is Christ calling you to speak, regardless of the cost?

-Witness the false prophets receiving universal praise. Examine your own desire for validation and acceptance. How might your pursuit of others' approval be blocking your receptivity to God's voice?

Pray

Lord, you turn our world upside down to set it right, break open our hearts where they have grown hard with comfort. Transform our poverty into possibility, our hunger into holy longing, our tears into testament. Make us brave enough to be blessed in the way of Your Son, finding treasure in empty hands and fullness in sacred sacrifice. Amen.

References

Blessed Are They Who Hope in the Lord

SOCL, 5C

Sunday February 09, 2025

Do not be afraid; from now on you will be catching people.

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Discipleship breaks down our religious categorizations. We look at Christ's first followers through the lens of retrospective holiness, forgetting they were ordinary people whose hands smelled of fish and whose lives were marked by the routine of daily work. This spiritual amnesia robs us of the revolutionary essence of Christ's call.

On the shores of the lake, Christ did not seek refined theologians or accomplished mystics. He chose those who knew the weight of empty nets and the frustration of fruitless work. The call to discipleship is not an invitation to abandon the ordinary, but to allow the divine to break through in the midst of our most mundane routines.

The paradox persists: it is precisely in our ordinariness where Christ performs the extraordinary. Peter's boat becomes a chair of theology, and the empty nets become testimony to divine abundance. Today, our desks, kitchens, and workshops are the new settings where the "follow me" resonates with renewed urgency.

Listen

Isaiah 6:1-2a, 3-8; Psalm 138; 1 Corinthians 15:1-11; Luke 5:1-11

Reflect

(Luke 5:1-11)

-Contemplate the scene: Peter, exhausted after a fruitless night, encounters Christ in his moment of professional failure. Where are your empty nets? Allow your vulnerability to become the meeting point with the divine.

-"Master, at your word I will let down the nets." Peter's obedience challenges the logic of his fishing experience. What professional or personal certainties do you need to release to make space for Christ's transforming word?

-The nets break with unexpected abundance. The miracle exceeds human capacity to contain it. What self-imposed limits are containing the grace that God wants to pour into your life?

-"Do not be afraid." These words resound when divine reality surpasses our expectations. What fears do you need to name before the Lord to take the next step in your discipleship?

Pray

Lord of the ordinary and extraordinary, who transforms routines into sacred encounters and weaknesses into points of grace, grant us the audacity to recognize you in the midst of our daily failures. Break the molds of our limited understanding and take us into deep waters, where our certainties dissolve in the mystery of your grace. May our discipleship be as radical as that of those first fishermen who left everything to follow you.

References

In the Sight of the Angels

SOCL, 4C

Sunday February 02, 2025

Presentation in the Temple.

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Our Gospel today describes two very old people—Simeon and Anna—who are very attractive in their old age. They have lived prayerful lives of faith and, in particular, of hope and expectation. Being wise, they are people of discernment and they recognise the moment of grace, the coming of the Messiah. Wouldn’t it be wonderful to be like them in old age? The secret is to be now what we hope to be then. If we wish to be serene, wise, discerning, full of faith—then now is the time: As St Paul says: “See, now is the acceptable time; see, now is the day of salvation!” (2 Cor 6:2)

Listen

Malachi 3:1-4; Psalm 24 (23); Hebrews 2:14-18; Luke 2:22-40

Reflect

(Luke 2:22-40)

-It was a day that started without any expectation of something unusual. It turned out to be a day with a meeting they would remember for a long time. Perhaps you have had signicant meetings on what you expected to be just an ordinary day?

-Simeon gave thanks because his eyes saw the salvation God had prepared. In what ways have you experienced God’s salvation in your life: an experience of being loved, or discovering a sense of purpose in life, or being touched by the wonders of creation? Give thanks for those memories.

-Simeon also acknowledged that not all would accept the light that would shine through Jesus, and this rejection would be a cause of pain to Mary. It can be a source of pain to parents, teachers, church ministers, and all who work for others when some reject values, projects, advice which would be for their good. Even within ourselves we can be aware of division, at times being open to the light of God and at other times resisting it. Have you known the pain of that struggle? What has helped you to keep seeking the light of God in your life?

-The nal sentence speaks of Jesus as one who grew and became strong and was lled with wisdom. Recall times when you had a sense of growing up in some way. What brought that about? Think also of how you have seen growth in another person.

Pray

Inspired by your Spirit, Lord, we gather in your temple to welcome your Son. Enlighten our minds and lay bare our inmost thoughts. Purify your people, and make us obedient to the demands of your law, so that we may mature in wisdom and grow to full stature in your grace. We ask this 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.

References

Who Is This King of Glory?