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The Word today, Advent2B23

  • Writer: Admin
    Admin
  • Feb 26, 2024
  • 3 min read


December 11 - December 16, 2023


St Damasus 1, pope


Isaiah 35:1-10 Transformation is the message today, first in images (the desert in bloom), then in physical cures (the blind shall see etc.) and finally in the human heart (everlasting joy on their faces).


Luke 5:17-26 The effort of the friend is very impressive in this story…and their efforts meet with a double response, healing and forgiveness. On a spiritual level, we can be “paralysed” too and in need of a word of mercy.


St Finian, bishop


Isaiah 40:1-11 Powerful images in this reading should awaken a deep longing in our hearts. Let us come again to the great shepherd of our souls, holding us and leading us in all circumstances.


Matthew 8:12-14 The parable of the lost sheep makes a direct link with Isaiah. Of course, the ninety-nine who don’t stray at all also don’t really exist! We are, all of us, lost sheep and in need of guidance.


St Lucy, virgin


Isaiah 40:25-31 Our reading today is really a meditation on God and in particular on the “beyond-ness” of God (his transcendence). The fact that God is so other in this reflection is a source of hope and renewed energy.


Matthew 11:28-30 “Yoke” was a term used by the rabbis to refer to the guidance of Torah, by which we plough straight furrows in life. Jesus himself is now our Law and his guidance is light.


St John of the Cross, doctor


Isaiah 41:13-20 The opening line of this poem give the key to the rest: Do not be afraid. The reading goes on to explore such deep trust using several metaphors: harvesting, drought and barrenness.


Matthew 11:11-15 So, who really was John the Baptist? In Jesus’ estimation, John was the greatest of the old dispensation. In orthodox tradition he is called the forerunner, the prodromos. Yet even he falls into the second rank compared with the least in the kingdom of heaven!



Isaiah 48:17-19 There is a great promise in this reading, but also one big “if ”: if only you had been alert to my commandments. Isaiah can tell us the rest!


Matthew 11:16-19 There’s no pleasing some people seems to be the message of this passage. Brief technical note The very last line, puzzling to us, calls for special comment. The passage comes from the Q community, who produced the Sayings Source (Q), behind Matthew and Luke. In the view of that community, John, Jesus and their members were all children of transcendent wisdom. Originally, the last verse read: But Wisdom was vindicated by her children. (Q 7:35; see Luke 7:35.) For Matthew, Jesus himself is our Wisdom and so he alters the text and continues his portrait to Jesus as wisdom in Mt 11:25-30.



Ecclesiasticus 48:1-4, 9-12 Elijah remained a figure of fascination long after his death, as we hear in this reflection. An Elijah-type figure was expected to usher in the Messiah. The blessedness of this is caught in the very unusual beatitude which closes the reading.


Matthew 17:10-13 As noted above, the expected Elijah-type figure was based on Mal 3:1. By identifying John as Elijah, Jesus affirms the significance of the present moment and his own ministry.


References

-United States Conference of Catholic Bishops. (2023, December 10). Second Sunday of Advent. USCCB. https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/121023.cfm

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


 
 
 

The Word today, Lent2B24

  • Writer: Admin
    Admin
  • Feb 23, 2024
  • 3 min read


February 26 - March 02, 2024



Daniel 9:4-10 Daniel prays a great prayer which we could make our own today. The Psalm takes up the same theme of forgiveness.


Luke 6:36-38 Pardon is free from God — but it is truly “ours” only when we pardon in return.


St Gregory of Narek, abbot and doctor


Isaiah 1:10, 16-20 Following an opening command to wash and make ourselves clean, no fewer than seven imperatives help us to think practically of changes in our lives.


Matthew 23:1-12 Matthew is aware that religious leaders can “lose the run of themselves,” as we say. This is true in our Gospel of the Pharisees, but the the Gospel goes on to issue a warning also to Christian leaders: they are not to be called rabbi or father or teacher. Why is that the case?



Jeremiah 18:18-20 Jeremiah, an unwilling prophet, had a tough time fulfilling his ministry, with many threats and even landing in jail. His story anticipates the passion of Jesus.


Matthew 20:17-28 The sons of Zebedee have overstepped the mark, but it’s a bit rich of the others to be indignant because they are really no different. Christian leadership, rooted in the person and practice of Jesus, simply must be service and nothing else.



Jeremiah 17:5-10As often in the Bible, a choice is placed before us. As the last paragraph is aware, the human heart can be (very!) perverse.


Luke 16:19-31 The story of the rich man (Dives in Latin) and the poor man, Lazarus, is unique to this Gospel. The point is pretty clear and it would be hard to miss the message. The exploration of the parable in the last paragraph, however, is larded with irony…are we among those who would not be convinced even if someone (who?) should rise from the dead?


St David, bishop


Genesis 37:3-4, 12-13, 17-28 The ordinary mass goer might well ask why this reading and what is it about? The story of the rejection of Joseph by his brothers is interesting and significant of itself. Today, however, it is told to anticipate a similar rejection in the Gospel, the rejection of Jesus and his mission. In the case of Joseph, the rejected one became the saviour when there was a famine in the land of Canaan. Likewise, the rejected Jesus became a saviour but not merely to one family but to the whole human race.


Matthew 21:33-43, 45-46 In the Old Testament, there are passages which talk about Israel as God’s vineyard, a metaphor which undergirds today’s parable. The parable on the lips of Jesus may have been simpler. The version we have in the Gospel reflects the context of Matthew’s community and the later application of Psalms to Jesus’ own death and resurrection.



Micah 7:14-15,18-20 Today we hear a great prayer for forgiveness, a confident prayer because the Lord is our shepherd. It would make a terrific reflection on God’s mercy and compassion. It does prepare us to hear with fresh ears the parable of the prodigal son.


Luke 15:1-3, 11-32 As often, it can be hard to hear what is so familiar so that we are addressed again, so a special effort is needed. It might be good to focus on the stay-at home brother and his resentments. Do I find such flinty resistance in myself ? In my community? In our society? Even as we find this in ourselves, it is good to recall that the parable ends without resolution, open-ended, so that forgiveness and compassion are always possible.


References

-United States Conference of Catholic Bishops. (2024t, February 25). Second Sunday of lent. USCCB. https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/022524.cfm

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


 
 
 

The Word today, Lent1B24

  • Writer: Admin
    Admin
  • Feb 16, 2024
  • 3 min read

Updated: Mar 1, 2024



February 19 - February 24, 2024



Leviticus 19:1-2,11-18 The Old Testament has a very high moral vision—expressed quite concretely and practically in this reading. Even though the text is very old, the teaching still speaks today. The examples given illustrate how we may be compassionate and just or, in a word, holy, just as God himself is holy.


Matthew 25:31-46 Our Gospel is really more a tableau than a parable. Christ may be encountered in the vulnerable. When we ourselves are vulnerable, others may encounter Christ is us. Very simply: our choices have consequences.



Isaiah 55:10-11 The readings of Lent do indeed challenge, but they also encourage. Today we hear of God’s effective word, carrying out what it says. One way to listen might be to ask: has this been true for me in my life? Have I found the word of God an effective in my hearing and living? The link with the Gospel is most likely through the imagery of bread.


Matthew 6:7-15 We often tend to separate worship and life, thinking that when we’ve done our prayer, we’re done. A fundamental error! The prophets of old often pointed this out and Jesus does so again in the context of the Lord’s Prayer. Simps put, prayer from the heart, leads to forgiveness from the heart. The can be no separation.


St Peter Damian, bishop and doctor


Jonah 3:1-10 The ironic book of Jonah is serious about conversion as we see from the reaction not only of the humans, but even the beasts, herds and flocks! For our Lent purposes, the preaching of Jonah is taken at face value, inviting us today to a conversion of heart


Luke 11:29-32 There is more to the Gospel than a reference back to Jonah. Are we such a generation, unmoved and complacent? However, the reference to Jonah is a kind of a fortiori argument: if people listen to Jonah, how much more should we listen to Jesus, Son of God!


The Chair of St Peter


1 Peter 5:1-4 Here we have simple and clear advice on Christian leadership which, for all its antiquity, is never out of date: watch over the flock of God, not simply as a duty but gladly, because God wants it. This applies not only to those in leadership, but to us all.


Matthew 16:13-19 This Gospel passage reflects the role of Peter in the church at Antioch — the exemplary faith of the apostle is our foundation stone and principle of unity. The heart of it all is Peter’s faith in Christ.


St Polycarp, bishop and martyr


Ezekiel 18:21-28 We can all change and repentance is a possibility always on the table. This is God’s desire for us — and our slightly threatening reading is finally positive.


Matthew 5:20-26 Following the best Jewish tradition, Jesus teaches that sin come from the heart, from within. It is our attitudes which count, in every sense. The risk of any formal worship is to think that when we’ve done that, we’re done. No way, as Jesus illustrates in the appended parable.



Deuteronomy 26:16-19 Against the background of the covenant, Moses outlines our side of the bargain. Notice that we are to keep his commands with our heart—the offer is twosided and conditional. The Gospel takes that a step deeper.


Matthew 5:43-48 Jesus demands of us a deeper and more costly love, taking us well beyond the conventional and even the natural. The argument is a good one: if people of no special religion manage to be at least decent, how much more is expected to all who have put their trust in God?


References

-United States Conference of Catholic Bishops. (2024r, February 18). First Sunday of lent. USCCB. https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/021824.cfm

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


 
 
 
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