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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/


 
 
 

The Word today, W20B

  • Writer: Admin
    Admin
  • Aug 16, 2024
  • 2 min read

Updated: Sep 27, 2024



August 19 - August 24, 2024


St John Eudes


Ezekiel 24:15-24 The prophets are called sometimes to illustrate their teaching with an action. This is perhaps the most disturbing prophetic gesture—and the message could hardly be clearer.


Matthew 19:16-22 A failed calling is always tough to listen to. It does remind us that we become disciples not because we choose it but rather the Lord chooses us.


St Bernard, abbot and doctor


Ezekiel 28:1-10 Today we hear a fierce critique of absolute rulers who set themselves up as gods over their people. “Being swollen with pride,” they are now severely corrected by God.


Matthew 19:23-30 The “eye of an needle” is not to be allegorized (there was no such “gate” in Jerusalem). Instead, we have grossly exaggerated image to make the point with wit and inescapable clarity.


St Pius X, bishop of Rome


Ezekiel 34:1-11 Ezekiel—whose ministry took place just before and then during the great Exile in Babylon—read that disaster as punishment for the total failure of leadership, both political and religious. He is very hard (rightly) on the shepherds who feed themselves instead of feeding the flock.


Matthew 20:1-16 Our parable today has not lost its capacity to shock and disturb. Originally, it was aimed at those who objected to God’s gracious inclusion of Gentiles in his plan of salvation.


Our Lady, queen and mother


Ezekiel 36:23-28 Eventually, Ezekiel comes to the question of renewal and restoration. In a marvellous passage he describes this as a conversion of heart, achieved not by human effort but by God alone. Long before transplants were thought of, Ezekiel portrays God as a heart surgeon.


Matthew 22:1-14 To “get” this parable, it is vital to hear it on two levels. There is the level of the historical Jesus, using traditional festal and nuptial imagery for the kingdom. There is the level of church, looking back and what actually happened to Jesus, the messiah and prophet.


St Rose of Lima; St Eugene, bishop


Ezekiel 37:1-14 We need a double lens to listen to this reading. First a political lens: the vision is a parable of restoration after the disaster of the Exile in Babylon. In other words, another generation will rise and return. At the same time, the metaphor of resurrection works only because some people were already coming to some kind of faith in life after death.


Matthew 22:34-40 In a memorable encounter, Jesus goes to the heart of the Gospel of love. This great teaching is never, ever “out of date.”


St Bartholomew, apostle


Apocalypse 21:9-14 What will heaven be like? Using a rich array of metaphors—marriage, jewelry, a city, the twelves tribes and the Lamb of God—our reading offers a stunning, vibrant and inviting portrait.


John 1:45-51 In this Gospel, the spread of the Good News is a kind of wildfire, with one person drawing another in. Symbolically, the fig tree referred to knowledge of God and evil and hence to the Torah which gives us this knowledge.


References

-United States Conference of Catholic Bishops. (2024bl, August 18). Twentieth Sunday in ordinary time. USCCB. https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/081824.cfm

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


 
 
 

The Word today, W19B

  • Writer: Admin
    Admin
  • Aug 9, 2024
  • 3 min read

Updated: Sep 27, 2024



August 12 - August 17, 2024


St Jane Frances de Chantal, religious; St Muredach, bishop; St Attracta, virgin; St Lelia, virgin.


Ezekiel 1:2-5, 24-28 For the next two weeks, we hear from the extraordinary book of the prophet Ezekiel. Some of the most beguiling and upsetting passages in the Old Testament come from his pen. Our reading of Ezekiel begins today with the story of his calling as a prophet.


Matthew 17:22-27 Jesus’ own real freedom in relation to civil authorities is wittily reflected in this rather legendary story.


Sts Pontian, bishop of Rome, and Hippolytus, Priest, martyrs; St Fachtna, bishop


Ezekiel 2:8-3:4 In a very graphic way, the function or role of a prophet is illustrated. The prophet must ingest and digest the message and only then may he or she speak.


Matthew 18:1-5, 10, 12-14 Familiarity can blunt our appreciation of biblical imagery. In this case, a child is as symbol of powerlessness rather than innocence. In the case of the shepherd, it against common sense to abandon ninety-nine is search of just one.


St Maximilian Kolbe, religious, priest, martyr.


Ezekiel 9:1-7, 10:18-22 Ezekiel lived at a time of tremendous unfaithfulness. The story we read today is not meant as a description of something which actually happened but rather a warning, even a threat that people should reform their lives. Ezekiel is always aware of God as mystery, greater than our words, our minds and our heart.


Matthew 18:15-20 In this Gospel we are overhearing practices developed in the community of Matthew, most likely centred in Antioch. What to do with people who “stray”? The procedure is in several stages, following common sensitivity and biblical precedent.


Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary


Apocalypse 11:19, 12:1-6, 10 This unusual reading is really about the motherhood of the church and the martyrdom of early Christians. By an accommodated interpretation, it is read for the feast.


1 Corinthians 15:20-26 Our text is really a good example of Christian apocalyptic. One of the concerns of apocalyptic writings was the sequence of the end or when we will see the total victory over death. Paul believed in this, but knew it was not yet.


Luke 1:39-56 The prayer of Mary can still cause surprise because it is not about having a baby but about social reversal or revolution. We overhear in these words the prayer of the Christian anawim YHWH or the poor of the Lord.


St Stephen of Hungary


Ezekiel 16:1-15, 60, 63 In the Old Testament, marriage symbolism is used frequently for God’s relationship with his people. Partly, this is because the word covenant and (marriage) bond are identical in Hebrew. In today’s reading, Ezekiel—never short of a word —exploits the metaphor to reawaken the people’s original love for God.


Matthew 19:3-12 This important passage goes back to Jesus himself. He upholds the ideal of life-long marriage.


Our Lady of Knock.


Ezekiel 18:1-10,13, 30-32 If we listened carefully to this reading it is extraordinary. It move from the traditional collective and generational guilt to individual responsibility. It thus fits in with the Axial Age, observed by Karl Jaspers, when humanity underwent a change of consciousness.


Matthew 19:13-15 It might be reassuring that the disciples got in the way so early!! Jesus corrected them and received the little children. Perhaps today we still stand in need such re-orientation…


References

-United States Conference of Catholic Bishops. (2024bj, August 11). Nineteenth Sunday in ordinary time. USCCB. https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/081124.cfm

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


 
 
 
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