The Word today, W23B

September 09 - September 14, 2024

Monday 09 September

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!

Tuesday 10 September

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.

Wednesday 11 September

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.

Thursday 12 September

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.

Friday 13 September

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!!

Saturday 14 September

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/

SOCL, Sunday23B

Sunday September 08, 2024

Jesus said to him, “Ephphatha,” that is, “Be opened”

See

The five senses enable us to engage with others, with the world and with reality in general. We realise their significance when for whatever reason our senses no longer “work” as well as before. The senses are also used in a transferred meaning, especially hearing and seeing, to point to faith. Hence it is that at Baptism a special and quite beautiful prayer is said over the newly baptised. It is prayer we can use again and again all our lives.

Listen

Isaiah 35:4-7; Psalm 146 (145); James 2:1-5; Mark 7:31-37

Reflect

(Mark 7:31-37)

-The healing of the deaf mute provides us with an opportunity to reflect on the importance of communication in our lives. The healing touch of Jesus brought the man from isolation into community. Who have been the people who touched you when you felt isolated and alone and helped you to come out of painful aloneness? For whom have you done this?

-Deafness is symbolic of being unable to hear what is being said to us. What a difference when our ears are opened! Perhaps you can recall a time when your ears were opened and you heard in a new way that you were loved — by God or by another person.

-Words are not the only form of communication. Actions can speak louder than words. Recall times when this was brought home to you.

-Being able to say what is in you is the other side of communication. Perhaps there have been occasions when you have struggled to find words to express what is deepest in you—your faith, your values, your love. Then something changed and you found the words. What was it like to be able to express your deepest self ?

Pray

Open our ears to your redeeming word and move our hearts by the strength of your love, so that our every word and work may proclaim as Messiah, Jesus the Lord, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, God for ever and ever. Amen.

References

Praise the Lord, My Soul! (Or Alleluia)

The Word today, W22B

September 02 - September 07, 2024

Monday 02 September

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.

Tuesday 03 September

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.

Wednesday 04 September

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.

Thursday 05 September

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.

Friday 06 September

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.

Saturday 07 September

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/