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The Word today, Lent5B24

  • Writer: Admin
    Admin
  • Mar 15, 2024
  • 3 min read


March 18 - March 23, 2024



Daniel 13:1-9, 15-17, 19-30, 33-62 This dramatic reading follows on extremely well from yesterday’s Gospel about the woman caught in adultery. Many dimensions could help us, but perhaps the courage and intelligence of Daniel could be underlined.


John 8:12-20 The theme of judgement unites the two readings—by which standards do we judge? In the discussion with the Pharisees, the Fourth Gospel offers us a deep and still challenging understanding of Jesus. Who was he? Who is he?


St Joseph, husband of the BVM 2


Samuel 7:4-5, 12-14, 16 God’s fidelity through time is expressed in his commitment to the family of David, of which Jesus will be born.


Romans 4:13,16-18,22 Abraham trusted against all the odds — as did his later descendant Joseph.


Matthew 1:16, 18-21, 24 Joseph of the Gospels reminds us of Joseph of Genesis, who dreamed and who saved his family.



Daniel 3:14-20, 24-25, 28 In this dramatic illustration, faithfulness to the one true God is a deadly risk— and yet God shows himself to be faithful to all who are faithful to him.


John 8:31-42 In early Christian reflection, Abraham was in everyone’s mind—notably in Paul’s but also as we see in John’s gospel. The big question being answered is, who is Jesus?


St Enda, abbot


Genesis 17:3-7 The reading today picks out an emblematic story about Abraham, as a preparation for the Gospel, where Abraham is mentioned again. He was the original man of faith, our father in faith, as Hebrews puts it, who put his trust in God and in a way God puts his trust in Abraham.


John 8:51-59 In the Fourth Gospel, there are seven I AM sentences, usually qualified by some image or affirmation such as the good shepherd. The I AM in today’s reading is without qualification, an absolute claim to identity with God. While clearly “theological, it may have a grounding in history: Again the high priest asked him, “Are you the Messiah, the Son of the Blessed One?” Jesus said, “I am.” (Mark 14:61–62)


Jeremiah 20:10-13 Right up to today, good people are made to suffer when they tell the truth and say it like it is. This was true also in the past: Jeremiah suffered greatly for his convictions and prophecies, in the same way as Jesus would, much later.


John 10:31-42 As often in John’s gospel, we are overhearing later disputes about the identity of Jesus and the arguments for and against. Only in the light of the resurrection did the early Christian really grasp who Jesus was and who the risen Jesus is today.


St Turibius of Mongrovejo, bishop


Ezekiel 37:21-28 This short reading was written a time of national disaster and disgrace. As we listen, we might keep in mind what picture of God comes out of this picture? Can it help me or us today?


John 11:45-56 Today, our reading takes us to the consequences of the story of Lazarus. John’s Gospel is looking back after many year’s of prayer and reflection. The evangelist see that the cause of Jesus’ death was really who he was — the Messiah and the Son of God. Ironically, Caiaphas speaks the a deep truth, even if he doesn’t know what he is really saying: it is better for one man to die for the people.


References

-United States Conference of Catholic Bishops. (2024z, March 17). Fifth Sunday of Lent. USCCB. https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/031724-YearB.cfm

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


 
 
 

The Word today, Lent4B24

  • Writer: Admin
    Admin
  • Mar 8, 2024
  • 3 min read

Updated: Jun 7, 2024



March 11 - March 16, 2024


St Angus, bishop and abbot


Isaiah 65:17-21 Exultant optimism is perhaps not the mood of the times, but, it is the mood of this passage from Isaiah. One line anticipates the Gospel: no more will be found the infant living a few days only. Even the exaggerations are delightful.


John 4:43-54 John’s Gospel tells this familiar story with an intriguing twist: the parent is first called a “court official,” then a “man” and only towards the end, “the father.” Roles can dictate who we are!



Ezekiel 47:1-9,12 “Awash with life” might be a good description of Ezekiel’s “vision” of the Temple. Exuberance is everywhere: And their fruit will be good to eat and the leaves medicinal. The Gospel takes up the water image in a remarkable vision of healing.


John 5:1-3,5-16 As you listen to this story, you might bear in mind the corresponding one about about the man born blind in John 9. Under that pressure, the man born blind becomes stronger; in this Gospel, the man crumbles and betrays Jesus. What does being under pressure for the faith do to me?



John 5 rehearses no fewer than five arguments in the case for Jesus being the Messiah. The outline is: The miracle: 5:1-9 The Dispute: 5:10-47 The investigation: 5:10-15 The attack: 5:16-19 The five witnesses: 5:17-47 The witnesses are (1) God in 5:16-30; (2) John the Baptist in 5:31-35; (3) Jesus’ deeds in 5:36-38; (4) the Scriptures in 5:39-40; (5) Moses in 5:45-47. As in all the discourses of this Gospel, we are not hearing the actual words of the historical Jesus. Instead, after decades of reflection, we hear the deep spirituality of the great evangelist.


Isaiah 49:8-15 The opening and closing lines of this reading are simply wonderful. Written when the people were still in Exile, these verses offered a great vision of hope and return. They can encourage us today as well.


John 5:17-30 Part of the background to the opening verses is a contemporary Jewish discussion about whether God could really have ceased from creating, as it apparently says in Gen 2:2. Note an anticipation of the raising of Lazarus, who will “hear his voice and live.”



Exodus 32:7-14 In this disconcerting story, God is furious that the people have so quickly abandoned him. Moses reminds God of who God is and so God relents, thanks be to God.


John 5:31-47 This compact reading can upset us today because of the robust comments of Jesus. In reality, we are eavesdropping on the later conversation between Christians and Jews. The evangelist parades before us three of his wife “witnesses”: Jesus’ own deeds, the Scriptures and, finally, Moses himself.



Wisdom 2:1,12-22 There is a contemporary ring to this reading from the book of Wisdom: the godless resent the faith of the believers. Such resentment foreshadows the reaction to Jesus.


John 7:1-2, 10, 25-30 Jesus certainly disconcerted those who met him, as we hear in this reading. Who is he really? Where is he from? Who sent him?



Jeremiah 11:18-20 Jeremiah, always in difficulty because of his calling, places his full and total trust in God. The psalm captures it well: Lord God, I take refuge in you.


John 7:40-52 Again, there is a contemporary ring about the range of opinions and the discord triggered by the person and presence of Jesus. What do I believe? What difference does it make?


References

-United States Conference of Catholic Bishops. (2024x, March 10). Fourth Sunday of Lent. USCCB. https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/031024-YearB.cfm

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


 
 
 

The Word today, Lent3B24

  • Writer: Admin
    Admin
  • Mar 1, 2024
  • 3 min read


March 04 - March 09, 2024


St Casimir


2 Kings 5:1-15 A very lively, realistic story prepares us for the Gospel reading. There are comic elements: the disappointment of Naaman and the utterly sensible advice of his servants.


Luke 4:24-30 Our reading is really the second part of an integrated scene in Luke’s Gospel. Jesus preaches in Nazareth and is initially well received. What we really have here is a symbolic tableau, giving us the whole Gospel story of Jesus in a nutshell. The last elusive line points to Easter.


St Kieran, bishop


Daniel 3:25, 34-43 The context for this wonderful prayer can help a great deal. The book of Daniel was written during a time of brutal persecution under the Syrian ruler, Antiochus IV Epiphanes. Under the guise of the time of the earlier Babylonians, the book of Daniel really reflects this later, highly dangerous situation. The three main characters have been thrown into the fiery furnace and one of them, Azariah, prays this great prayer.


Matthew 18:21-35 Our first reading was a prayer for mercy from God. The Gospel is also about mercy, but in another perspective. Mercy is given to a great debtor, who begs precisely for mercy. But he in his turn refuses mercy to a fellow servant, who begged him. It is all a comment on the words we pray everyday: forgive us out trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us.



Deuteronomy 4:1, 5-9 Our reading reflects on God’s grace to Israel and on the consequent responsibility of the Israelites to live lives consistent with that grace. It was true long ago in Judaism; it is true today in our Christian proclamation.


Matthew 5:17-19 Matthew can disconcert with his quite conservative attitudes. It is important to remember that the Law (the Torah) meant three things at the time: the Pentateuch, the moral law and the ritual. The moral law is, if anything, sharpened.


Sts Perpetua and Felicity, martyrs


Jeremiah 7:23-28 The ministry of Jeremiah encountered tremendous opposition. In fact, his book is divided into two parts, the first devoted to a rehearsal of the collapse of the independent kingdom of Judah. Within that, Jeremiah points out that the very faithlessness of the people was one of the causes of that calamity.


Luke 11:14-23 Just as the prophets encountered opposition, so did the Jesus. In the case of Jesus, the opposition accuses God’s prophet of aligning himself with the forces of evil. Already in Luke’s Gospel, we hear the story of the temptation, wherein Jesus resolutely rejects the devil.


St John of God, religious


Hosea 14:2-10 Hosea wrote in the 8th century BC, at a time of immense pressure from Assyria. He can be trenchant but is also a marvellous poet of the love of God. Listen by letting any of the moving metaphors touch our hearts.


Mark 12:28-34 This great passages takes us to the hear to of the preaching of Jesus, the Jewish Messiah.


St Frances of Rome, religious


Hosea 5:15-6:6 This is really a sarcastic reading. But, behind the biting sarcasm, is the beating heart of God, reaching out to us again and again.


Luke 18:9-14 The risk for us in reading this parable is that we find ourselves sitting in judgment on the Pharisee—that is, copying him in sitting in judgment on the tax collector. The heart-felt prayer for mercy is at the centre: can I make it my own?


References

-United States Conference of Catholic Bishops. (2024v, March 3). Third Sunday of lent. USCCB. https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/030324.cfm

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


 
 
 
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