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The Word today, W23B

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

Updated: Sep 27, 2024



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/


 
 
 

The Word today, W22B

  • Writer: Admin
    Admin
  • Aug 31, 2024
  • 3 min read

Updated: Sep 27, 2024



September 02 - September 07, 2024



1 Corinthians 2:1-5 The Corinthians found Paul a poor speaker and were unimpressed. He turns this around by saying, in effect, “I don’t want you to be impressed by fine speeches and even logic, because as the centre stands the contradiction of the cross.”


Luke 4:16-30 This compact account, brought forward and expanded by Luke, is really a symbolic tableau, anticipating the ministry of Jesus, his destiny and the later expansion of the Way in the Acts. Jesus is portrayed as a prophet, whose word is penetrating.


St Gregory the Great, bishop of Rome, doctor


1 Corinthians 2:10-16 What should we say of the Holy Spirit in our lives? We could do worse than pay attention to the first and last affirmations of this reading: “The Spirit reaches the depths of everything, even the depths of God.” “But we are those who have the mind of Christ.”


Luke 4:31-37 What kind of authority did Jesus have? Truly effective authority, as we see in this remarkable story.


St Mac Nissi, bishop


1 Corinthians 3:1-9 Continuing his argument with the Corinthians, Paul starts by admitting that after his preaching there was more to be said by the likes of Apollos. Nevertheless, preachers are only those who plant and water. It is God who gives the growth.


Luke 4:38-44 Our Gospel today shows us Jesus as a very busy person who also needed to “recharge his batteries”, as we say. Luke’ underlines throughout the prayer and prayerfulness of Jesus.



1 Corinthians 3:18-23 The Corinthians were inclined to think of themselves as spiritually advanced and, in various ways, superior. Such boasting has no place and Paul knocks it firmly on the head.


Luke 5:1-11 Usually, the call stories are stripped of all human interest. Luke make the response of the first disciples more credible is showing that they did indeed have some previous experience of Jesus.



1 Corinthians 4:1-5 Judging others, especially people in leadership, is a constant “pastime”, even in earliest communities of faith. Paul has no truck with such human assessments: only God is his, and our, judge.


Luke 5:33-39 Jesus was challenged because in his ministry he was not traditional. For example, he did not promote fasting. The early church did take up fasting and our Gospel is an attempt to explain why this is okay even if Jesus himself did not promote it. The marriage symbolism is part of the preaching of the Kingdom.



1 Corinthians 4:6-15 Once more, Paul tries to set aside party politics in the life of the community. He gives a very moving account of the lowly role of the apostle—a tour de force. At the same time, he does not neglect to remind the Corinthians of the origin of the faith among them and he (alone!) is their one father.


Luke 6:1-5 Today’s Gospel is an funny little story and one could be bold and ask what were the Pharisees doing in a cornfield on the Sabbath!! The main point, however, cannot be missed: Jesus’ ministry was utterly new, calling for novelty in thought and practice.


References

-United States Conference of Catholic Bishops. (2024b, September 1). Twenty-second Sunday in ordinary time. USCCB. https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/090124.cfm

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


 
 
 

The Word today, W21B

  • Writer: Admin
    Admin
  • Aug 21, 2024
  • 2 min read

Updated: Sep 27, 2024



August 26 - August 31, 2024



2 Thessalonians 1:1-5, 11-12 A word of appreciation is always welcome! 2 Thessalonians begins with a warm prayer of thanksgiving for the church in Thessalonica and concludes with a prayer for all the believers there.


Matthew 23:13-22 The Jesus of this story is stern, but be careful not to leave it in the past. His teaching is for us today as well.


St Monica, wife and mother


2 Thessalonians 2:1-3, 14-17 The context for this reading is excited, perhaps excitable, expectation of the end of time and the second coming of Jesus. The writers dampens these expectations down and closes with a prayer for the Thessalonian Christians.


Matthew 23:23-26 Religions can lose sight of the essentials and focus on the trivial—today, as well as in the past.


St Augustine, bishop and doctor


2 Thessalonians 3:6-10,16-18 It might seem strange to us, but one of the things the Thessalonians resented about Paul was his refusal to take money from them! In a way, he had insulted them, but he defends his motives with great energy.


Matthew 23:27-32 The attack on “show” religion continues fiercely. It is important to try to hear this both in the present and personally. It is much easer to leave it in the past and think of others. The last line is unexpectedly robust!


Beheading of John the Baptist


1 Corinthians 1:1-9 Today we start reading from 1 Corinthians, one of Paul’s great letters to his most difficult community. He begins as usual with a word of appreciation in the form of a thanksgiving prayer. As we listen, we may wonder for what would Paul give thanksgiving today?


Mark 6:17-29 The gospel—special for the feast—tells the story of the death of John the Baptist. It is a grisly end for a great prophet, facing death at the whim of his enemy.


(There are some inaccuracies and improbabilities in the Gospel account as well as echoes of the Books of Esther and Judith. The version by Josephus seems closer to the Realpolitik of Herod Antipas, who was not a king. See Jewish Antiquities 18:116–119.)


St Fiacre, monk


1 Corinthians 1:17-25 It seems the Corinthians overestimated the value of eloquence and even logic, while neglecting the crucifixion, a paradox at the heart of Christian faith. Paul describes this paradox is very arresting language.


Matthew 25:1-13 Today’s parable is a reminder that there are some things which only we can do for ourselves.


St Aidan, bishop and missionary and the Saints of the Holy Island of Lindisfarne


1 Corinthians 1:26-31 Paul illustrate the paradox of the cross in the lives of the Corinthians. The “foolishness” of the cross confirmed by the “foolishness” of the Corinthians—a rather high risk strategy of persuasion!


Matthew 25:14-30 Today’s parable is undoubtedly severe, especially towards the end. The overall message, however, stands: we have all receive graces and gifts—but how do we use them?


References

-United States Conference of Catholic Bishops. (2024bn, August 25). Twenty-first Sunday in ordinary time. USCCB. https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/082524.cfm

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


 
 
 
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