SELF-KNOWLEDGE ANIMATED BY CHARITY
Sirach 27:4-7
Ps 92(91): 2-3,13-16
1 Corinthians 15:54-58
Luke 6:39-45
8th Sunday Ordinary Time, Year C
This Sunday’s readings present us with some actions and their precise consequences. They teach that certain actions have predictable and definite outcomes.
The first reading says, that when a sieve is shaken, the rubbish is left behind; when a man talks, the intentions of his heart are made known; and when the orchard where a tree grows is good, it will become evident from the fruit it produced. In the second reading, St Paul says that when this perishable nature has put on imperishability, and when this mortal nature has put on immortality, the words of scripture will come true: Death is swallowed in victory; death is defeated and has no power over us.
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COMPASSIONATE AS THE FATHER
1 Samuel 26:2-23
Psalm 103(102): 1-4, 8,10,12-13
1 Corinthians 15:45-49
Luke 6:27-38
7th Sunday Ordinary Time, Year C
The readings for today have answered the frequently asked questions about “To whom am I to model my life?” Or as some others would ask, “What’s the best way to model my life?” Both questions are geared towards finding a better way to approach life. However, there is something more eternally rewarding that the readings offer. In the first reading, David says, “The Lord repays everyone for his uprightness and loyalty”; in the second reading, Paul tells us that if we model our lives to Christ, we will be like Him and become a life-giving spirit. In the gospel, Christ says we will have a great reward as sons and daughters of the Most High. The question is: How might we inherit these rewards?
BEATITUDES: A PORTRAIT OF ABUNDANCE
Jeremiah 17:5-8
Psalm 1:1-6, 40(39):5
1 Corinthians 15:12, 16-20
Luke 6:17, 20-26
6th Sunday in Ordinary Time
Sunday 16th February 2025
I think it’s possible to read the beatitudes in Luke’s gospel as a summary of a central aspect of Old Testament faith and of the major prophets. Indeed, read in the light of Isaiah and Jeremiah we can more readily appreciate their eschatological dimension as well as their challenge to us.
In Old Testament terms, what makes the hungry and poor blessed? They are those who have not forgotten God and the need of salvation, they haven’t filled themselves with riches of any kind. This is the message of Deuteronomy chapter 32, verses10 to 18. God was with Israel in the desert and satisfied their needs in abundance. The same theme is found in Isaiah chapter 51: 1,7-8. It is those who are not filled but “look to the rock from which you were hewn” who are open to the message of deliverance; “fear not the reproach of men, and be not dismayed at their reviling.
IN LETTING GOD, LET DOWN YOUR NETS
Isaiah 6:1-8
Psalm 138 (137):1-5
1 Corinthians 15:1-11
Luke 5:1-11
5th Sunday in Ordinary Time
Sunday 9th February 2025
If we read today’s gospel in the light of our first reading I think we are invited to consider the nature of the holiness that is required of Isaiah and Peter. What might be said to be the prerequisites? Is there any message here about the kind of prayer associated with such holiness? Both Isaiah and Peter had an experience of God as the Holy One; meeting him reveals to them their own unlikeness to him and their own sinfulness is exposed. However, although Peter sees his unworthiness we can see in his response two positive, interlinked attitudes, of obedience and of faith. Peter is a skilled and experienced fisherman.
CONSECRATION TO THE ALL OR NOTHING
Malachi 3:1-4
Psalm 24 (23):7-10
Hebrews 2:14-18
Luke 2:22-23
Feast of the Presentation
Sunday 2nd February 2025
The Feast of the Presentation of the Child Jesus in the Temple represents the fulfilment of Old Testament prophecies, highlighting the Lord’s intention to cleanse His temple and renew the locale of worship in His body. Of this coming, Malachi in our first reading, prophesied the purging of the sons of Levi who in their irreverence and abuses failed to recognise the Lord in their consecration to him.
RESTORED IN THE SPIRIT OF JUSTICE
Nehemiah 2:2-10
Psalm 19 (18): 8-10
Corinthians 12: 12-30
Luke 1: 1-21
Third Sunday in Ordinary Time
Sunday 26th January 2025
I think any Jew or Christian of the time in which John’s gospel was written would hear in this account of the wedding at Cana a twofold message. Here is the Messiah, the Restorer, bringing in his kingdom, announcing his kingly rule. But, more than that, here is the bridegroom, restoring his people because of his spousal love for them.
I think any Jew or Christian of the time in which John’s gospel was written would hear in this account of the wedding at Cana a twofold message. Here is the Messiah, the Restorer, bringing in his kingdom, announcing his kingly rule. But, more than that, here is the bridegroom, restoring his people because of his spousal love for them.
FORETASTE OF THE WEDDING FEAST OF THE LAMB
Isaiah 62: 1-5
Psalm 96 (95): 1-10
Corinthians 12: 4-11
John 2: 1-11
Second Sunday in Ordinary Time
Sunday 19th January 2025
I think any Jew or Christian of the time in which John’s gospel was written would hear in this account of the wedding at Cana a twofold message. Here is the Messiah, the Restorer, bringing in his kingdom, announcing his kingly rule. But, more than that, here is the bridegroom, restoring his people because of his spousal love for them.
They might hear behind the story not only our first reading from Isaiah, but also the more explicit declaration in Isaiah 54-4. For your maker is your husband, the Lord of hosts is his name, and the Holy One of Israel is your Redeemer. And they would recognize that this celebration represents the final action in a marriage that follows the earlier betrothal.
Baptism of the Lord
Isaiah 42:1-7
Psalm 104 (103):1-30
Titus 2: 11-14; 3:4-7
Luke 3:15-22
Sunday 12th January 2025
We are in the time of beginnings and today’s liturgy we gaze at the moment when Jesus, as an adult Jew, experiences the life-changing infusion that sets him on his mission to save all of humanity. The baptism of Jesus is referred to in each of the four Gospels. Luke’s telling is distinctive for several reasons.
Unlike Mark and Matthew, Luke does not explicitly state that Jesus was baptised by John the Baptist. The man we understand as pointing the way to the Messiah is not a protagonist in what happens. He is rather the sentinel for centuries of expectation who adds his witness to the cosmic turn in human history that occurs when baptism is of the Spirit rather than water … (Reflection by John Dalla Costa)
The Epiphany of the Lord
Isaiah 60:1-6
Psalms 72(71):1-2, 7-13
Ephesians 3: 2-6
Matthew 2:1-12
Sunday 5th January 2025
Today’s feast of the Epiphany marks in a dramatic way the contradiction posed to humanity by the Incarnation of Jesus Christ. On the one hand, as we read in Matthew’s Gospel, the light of Christ’s coming has shifted the cosmos, with a star arousing wonder and awe among sages in foreign lands. On the other, after an arduous pilgrimage across desert and plain to follow that star, the presence of these seekers arouses an equal and ominous enmity in the hearts of Herod, and those who’d been entrusted as custodians of God’s promise…. (Reflection by John Dalla Costa)
Solemnity of Mary, Mother of God
Numbers 6:22-27
Psalms 67:2-2,5-8
Galatians 4:4-7
Luke 2:16-21
Thursday 1st January 2025
On this first day of the year, the readings for the Solemnity of Mary Mother of God make us want to focus on where true blessedness lies, and who are the chosen ones identified in God. God’s blessings transverse beyond fun fair, to mean a protective hand; a certain overshadowing and guidance, despite any appearances to the contrary. This reverberates with that timeless assurance for the pilgrim Israel in Exodus (13:21), which Christ fulfils as the “God with Us.”