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The Word today, W25B

  • Writer: Admin
    Admin
  • Sep 20, 2024
  • 2 min read

Updated: Sep 27, 2024


ree

September 23 - September 28, 2024


St Padre Pio


Proverbs 3:27-34 How should we behave towards our neighbours? This reading offers a range of advice and perhaps one teaching or other will resonate with my own experience.


Luke 8:16-18 Our Gospel offers some arresting, even disconcerting, sayings of Jesus.



Proverbs 21:1-6,10-13 Today, we hear a series of proverbs offering wisdom coming from reflection upon experience. Any one proverb would merit reflection and perhaps there is one that speaks to you today.


Luke 8:19-21 It is interesting that Luke, who has the fullest portrait of Mary, should include this intriguing passage.


St Finbarr, bishop


Proverbs 30:5-9 The prayer included in this reading is a surprise, but the reasons given are good. It comes down to moderation or, as a friend puts it, an “elegant sufficiency”!!


Luke 9:1-6 The Twelve are empowered to do exactly what Jesus did. Just like him, they are to depend on the providence of God and the kindness of strangers. Shaking off the dust is a prophetic gesture of judgement and rejection (cf. Luke 10:11; Acts 13:51; 18:6).


Sts Cosmas and Damian, martyrs


Ecclesiastes 1:2-11 For the next three days, we hear from the book of Ecclesiastes. When read as a whole, it is a surprise to find this book in our Bible, because it is so pessimistic. Our reading today captures that in a reflection upon vanity of vanities. Remember, however, that vanity here does not mean self-regard (cf. selfies!) but rather futility / emptiness. The opening words could be well translated as “futility of futilities” or “the most futile.”


Luke 9:7-9 Herod, who is more curious about than really interested in Jesus, uses the various categories for understanding Jesus.


St Vincent de Paul, priest and religious


Ecclesiastes 3:1-11 This reading is sometimes chosen for funerals and you can see why. The wisdom within is somewhat static: this is just how things are and we must accept it.


Luke 9:18-22 The disciples repeat the common opinion, as we heard yesterday. But Jesus challenges them (and us) directly to go deeper.


St Laurence Ruiz and companions, martyrs; St Wenceslaus, martyr


Ecclesiastes 11:9-12:8 Our final reading from Ecclesiastes is a poem…but about what? If you listen carefully, you will see it is about the dilapidation of old age. For instance, the strong men are our legs and the women who grind are our teeth. And so on.


The end of life is captured marvelously “before the silver cord has snapped, or the golden lamp been broken, or the pitcher shattered at the spring, or the pulley cracked at the well.”


Even though Ecclesiastes can be emotionally reserved, there is a pathos for the human condition in this poem.


Luke 9:43-45 Suffering is always bewildering, so the reaction of the disciples in this passage is perfectly understandable.


References

-United States Conference of Catholic Bishops. (2024h, September 22). Twenty-fifth Sunday in ordinary time. USCCB. https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/092224.cfm

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


 
 
 

The Word today, W24B

  • Writer: Admin
    Admin
  • Sep 13, 2024
  • 3 min read

Updated: Sep 27, 2024


ree

September 16 - September 21, 2024


St Cornelius, bishop of Rome, and St Cyprian, martyrs


1 Corinthians 11:17-26,33 To understand this reading, it must be remembered that the Lord’s Supper was still part of an ordinary meal. The problem in Corinth was that social habits separating the rich and the poor “kicked in.” Paul is horrified, because such distinctions empty the sacrament of its meaning.


Luke 7:1-10 You may recognize in this appealing story a phrase we have come to use just before Holy Communion.


St Robert Bellarmine, bishop and doctor or St Hildegard of Bingen, virgin and doctor


1 Corinthians 12:12-14, 27-31 Divisions and factions are “normal” in the Christian community; this does not mean we should accept them as normative! All the gifts are needed, to make the community a living body.


Luke 7:11-17 You will notice the echoes of Elijah raising the widow’s son — all part of Luke’s portrait of Jesus as the prophet par excellence.



1 Corinthians 12:31-13:1 Our reading today is a Pauline tour-deforce in praise of love. It is often called a hymn to love and it is poetry. At the same time, we know that the core is profoundly true, reflecting what we know in our heart of hearts.


Luke 7:31-35 The tone of irritation may irritate (!) but it is perfectly understandable that Jesus might occasionally be just fed up with unstable expectations. It happens to us all!


St Januarius, bishop and martyr


1 Corinthians 15:1-11 Every Christian in Corinth believed Jesus was raised from the dead. Some of them, however, did not believe the dead would rise in Christ. Paul sets about persuading them, by first reminding them of the tradition they received, in which they stand.


Luke 7:36-50 Telling a story within a story can be very powerful. Jesus little “parable” of the debtor is hardly rocket science but in the context is immensely powerful. (It may be useful to repeat that the woman is question is not Mary Magdalen, contrary to popular tradition and writing.)


Sts Andrew Kim Taegon, priest, and Paul Chong Hasang, and their companions, martyrs


1 Corinthians 15:12-20 Paul’s argument calls for careful listening. In effect he is saying, if you say there is not resurrection at all, be careful because that will include Jesus! The arguments here are all logical and powerful.


Luke 8:1-3 Today’s very short reading is immensely significant. It is rare to see the women who accompanied Jesus given a profile. Mary Magdalene we know, of course, but the other figures remain a bit of mystery.


St Matthew, apostle and evangelist Very few critical scholars identify Levi, Matthew the apostle and the writer of the Gospel.


Ephesians 4:1-7,11-13 The readings are special for the feast. The first one from Ephesians reminds us of the variety of gifts needed in the community of faith, including the gift of teaching and writing.


Matthew 9:9-13 It is historically unlikely that the Matthew of this story was the author of the Gospel. Nevertheless, the story does go to the heart of the proclamation of Jesus, a proclamation of compassion, just as challenging today as in Jesus’ day.


References

-United States Conference of Catholic Bishops. (2024f, September 15). Twenty-fourth Sunday in ordinary time. USCCB. https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/091524.cfm

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


 
 
 

The Word today, W23B

  • Writer: Admin
    Admin
  • Sep 6, 2024
  • 3 min read

Updated: Sep 27, 2024


ree

September 09 - September 14, 2024


St Ciaran of Clonmacnoise, abbot


1 Corinthians 5:1-8 Paul can be shocked by the behaviour of the Corinthians and in this reading he really is taken aback. Of course, he doesn’t hold back either! Paul is motivated by the vision of our new life in Christ, our passover.


Luke 6:6-11 Jesus scandalised his contemporaries because he was so free—free enough in this story to put the well-being of a human being above a rigorous tradition. We can all think of similar situation in our contemporary church, of course!


St Peter Claver, priest and missionary


1 Corinthians 6:1-11 Conflict is normal in communities of faith and was frequent in Corinth. Nevertheless, Paul is shocked that they take each other to court to resolve issues. It should be possible to overcome such difficulties within the community but this is not always the case.


Luke 6:12-19 Luke offers the Sermon on the Plain. Our verses today introduce the Sermon with the appointment of the apostles. The number twelve reminds us of the twelve tribes of Israel and the appointment of the twelve was a symbolic action pointing to the restoration of Israel.



1 Corinthians 7:25-31 In St Paul’s mind, the witness of celibacy is appropriate to the nature of the times and can be practical. In any, case, he is not against getting married and may well have been married himself at an earlier stage of his life.


Luke 6:20-26 Luke offers four Beatitudes with four corresponding Woes. Because of the plain “unspiritalised” meaning, it is likely that the first three in each set closely resemble what Jesus said. Jesus really meant poor and hungry and weeping in a quite literal sense.


The Name of Mary or St Ailbe, bishop


1 Corinthians 8:1-7, 11-13 Food sacrifices to idols may seem remote. The question really is how much may a Christian compromise with the surrounding culture while still being true to Jesus and his teaching.


Luke 6:27-38 Compassion is a great ideal, found in the major religion: Judaism, Islam and Buddhism. Our Gospel portray the peculiarly Christian understanding of compassion.


St John Chrysostom, bishop and doctor


1 Corinthians 9:16-19, 22-27 St Paul does try to answer one question: why did he take no money for himself ? Not taking money did get him into trouble because the communities felt indebted to him and wanted to express their gratitude. Refusing such help shamed them and they felt it. At the end he uses metaphors from athletics, running etc.


Luke 6:39-42 A very energetic series of images all point to the same teaching. Having been a carpenter, Jesus knew all about splinters and planks. There is a possibility that this earnest teaching was offered with a smile on the lips!!


The Exaltation of the Holy Cross


Numbers 21:4-9 This strange, magical story has several layers. One layer is symbolic: snakes stand for life and death; another layer is therapeutic: when we face what harms us we diminish its hold over us. Our Gospel makes us of the same metaphor.


Philippians 2:6-11 You may have wondered where did Paul get all his knowledge and understanding. Partly from already existing traditions. In our reading, he quotes at length an early Christian hymn celebrating Jesus’ death and resurrection, the “great events that gave us new life in Christ.”


John 3:13-17 In our reading, the notion of “lifting up” looks backwards and forwards. Backwards: to the story we had in the first reading. Forwards, to Jesus’ own lifting up in death and into resurrection, so that we might have life in him. By his facing death, we are healed of its power and even of the fear of death itself.


References

-United States Conference of Catholic Bishops. (2024d, September 8). Twenty-third Sunday in ordinary time. USCCB. https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/090824.cfm

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


 
 
 
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