Catholic 715 : Fourth Sunday in Ordinary Time. Year C - Sunday, 3 February 2019

Homily Fourth Sunday in Ordinary Time. Year C - Sunday, 3 February 2019



Shutterstock:  © Image ID: 1246041673. By Mick Harper. A small rough wooden table with Torah Scroll in the
Synagogue in the open air museum of Nazareth Village Israel. This site gives a look at the life and times of Jesus in 1st Century Nazareth.
Used under license.
Jeremiah 1:4-5, 17-19
Psalm 71:1-6, 15-17. "I will sing of your salvation."
1 Corinthians 12:31-13:13
Luke 4:21-30
++++Please listen to my audio recordings of the readings, prayers and reflections for the Fourth Sunday in Ordinary Time. Year C - Sunday, 3 February 2019 by clicking this link here:   https://soundcloud.com/user-633212303/faith-hope-and-love-4c-episode-138  (EPISODE: 138)

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This weekend’s gospel could be entitled: “How quickly a friendly crowd can turn nasty.”

Homily Fourth Sunday in Ordinary Time. Year C - Sunday, 3 February 2019
Psalm 71:1-6, 15-17. "I will sing of your salvation."

This weekend’s gospel could be entitled: “How quickly a friendly crowd can turn nasty.”

The wonderful second reading can be used as a key to understanding the dynamic going on between Jesus and the people in the Synagogue of Nazareth……

Jesus is the visible expression of God.. who is complete love….  Everything Jesus did and said was out of LOVE, and no other reason…   even when he spoke a challenging message …  it was lovingly inviting the people to be open to the ways of God…  to open their minds and hearts….  Reject any narrow views,,,,,    by contrast.. the people become enraged…  even when Jesus was only speaking the truth….   They took huge offense and became angry and defensive and wanted to kill him…   so, they were not acting out of love… for love takes no offense…  rather it Seeks only to build up.,,… 

Initially, the crowd is astonished and impressed with Our Lord’s speech, but then when Jesus starts to tell them some home-truths, that challenge or stretch their thinking, and move them out of their comfort zone.....well that is entirely a different matter. Suddenly they do not like what they are hearing. They become murderously angry. Now they reject his message, even though his message is quite evidently true. They say… “Who does he think he is, he is just the carpenter’s son! What would he know?”

Attacking the person (or qualities about the person), rather than dealing with the substantial content of the actual message. In cricketing terms, I think it is called “playing the person, not the ball.” Whenever a person dismisses something a person is saying, based on irrelevant qualities, surely it is because they do not want to hear something that challenges their viewpoint. Attacking the person rather than the issue seems to have become an all-too-common error in this day and age.  

Our Lord shows us that it is not sufficient to know the words of Scripture off by heart. The people listening to him knew all-too-well the words of the Sacred Scriptures. These lines were extremely familiar to the people of that time. They knew them by heart.  But, people were comfortable with the Scriptures. Over many years, they had found satisfying interpretations of the Bible that did not unsettle or challenge them. Now, suddenly Our Lord is interpreting and teaching the meaning of these old familiar texts in a way that is new and unsettling. The way Our Lord was teaching was making them feel uncomfortable and suddenly he shook their complacency.  He particularly pointed out that merely belonging to the “chosen people of Israel” was not all that mattered. God has helped and welcomed people who were not part of the Chosen Ones.

Having said this, Our Lord did not wake up each morning and say: “now what can I do that will get people so riled up that they will want to throw me off a cliff?” Rather, Christ acted and taught with compassion, love, and grace. His honesty and passion opened up issues that sadly some violently reacted to. He wanted people to open up and be transformed by God’s different ways..   but this means being brave enough to be unsettled and uncomfortable and open to the different.

The crowd did not like what they were hearing! So, what do they do? Did they open their hearts and minds to widen their understanding and grow into Christ’s Kingdom?  No ! Instead they do what people have done throughout history to challenging and unsettling messages, they try to throw the messenger off the nearest cliff (literally in this present case). But isn’t this what they mean by the saying “don’t shoot the messenger.” This gospel is a powerful lesson. It might be a natural human defense to reject ideas or people that unsettle us in a reflex reaction. When we find ourselves challenged or unsettled by some news, instead of rejecting it out of hand, we can rely on God’s grace and open our hearts to what the Lord might be inviting us to understand. To stay in the discomfort zone and give respect to the messenger. The Gospels give us the values and wisdom to test the fruits according to the ways of Christ, amidst confusion and uneasiness.

The people have become infuriated and violent towards Jesus – so they drag him outside and mean to throw him off a very tall cliff. What happens next, if it wasn’t such a scary and dangerous situation…  would almost seem comical -  because Jesus is described as simply slipping through the crowd and walking away unnoticed.

You could almost visualize the crowd disappearing up the hill, as Our Lord walks casually away in the opposite direction. What a sight! When they get up to the top of the hill, their anger and denial have become so blinding that they look around and realise that the very object of their anger has vanished. Holding on to our own selfish mindsets can be so powerful that we can even lose sight of the original thing that challenged us.

Was Our Lord so ordinary looking, so average, so unnoticeable in those people’s eyes that they lost sight of him and did not even notice he was no longer amongst them, in the crowd gathered to throw him off the cliff? In so many ways, ‘they just did not “get him” or his message.’ They could not really see him or understand him for who he was.

Let us be vigilant to ensure that we never fall into this same trap as did the unteachable and angry crowd.
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References:
Fr Paul W. Kelly

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References:
Fr Paul W. Kelly
+++
Archive of homilies and reflections:  http://homilycatholic.blogspot.com.au
To contact Fr. Paul, please email: paulwkelly68@gmail.com

To listen to my weekly homily audio podcast, please click this link here.
NB - It is often a week or so Ahead: https://soundcloud.com/user-633212303/tracks

You are welcome to subscribe to Fr Paul’s homily mail-out by sending an email to this address:paulkellyreflections+subscribe@googlegroups.com

Further information relating to the audio productions linked to this Blog:
“Faith, Hope and Love,  A time of Christian worship and reflection”  - Led by Rev Paul W. Kelly
Texts used in this programme are for the purposes of worship and prayer for listeners wherever you are.
Prayers and chants are taken from the English Translation of the Roman Missal, edition three, © 2010, The International commission on English in the liturgy.
Scriptures are from the New Revised Standard Version: © 1989,  by the national council of Churches of Christ, USA. , //adaptations to conform with Catholic liturgical norms, © 2009, by the same.
 [{selected psalms } - ***Psalm verses are (also) taken from “The Psalms: A New Translation” ©1963, The Grail (England), published by Collins.. **]

Prayers of the Faithful are adapted from Robert Borg’s 1993 book “ Together we pray”. Published in Sydney Australia By  E.J. Dwyer. (out of print).

{ “Mass In Honour of St. Ralph Sherwin” -published 2011,  Composed and Sung by Jeffrey M. Ostrowski 
Featuring the….Gloria, The Creed, The Kyrie, The Mass parts, Psalms:  http://www.ccwatershed.org/chabanel/  ]]] ] COPYRIGHT @ 2018 CORPUS CHRISTI WATERSHED. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.  www.ccwatershed.org/vatican/Ralph_Sherwin_Videos/  

“Faith, Hope and Love” theme Hymn:   Words, based on 1 Corinthians 13:1-13, set to original music © 1996 by Paul W. Kelly.


Shutterstock:  © Image ID: 1246041673. By Mick Harper. A small rough wooden table with Torah Scroll in the Synagogue in the open air museum of Nazareth Village Israel. This site gives a look at the life and times of Jesus in 1st Century Nazareth. Used under license.

For more details please visit http://homilycatholic.blogspot.com.au/
Contact us atpaulwkelly68@gmail.com
Production by Kelly Enterprises Resources. 

May God bless and keep you.


Fourth Sunday in Ordinary Time. Year C
(Sunday, 3 February 2019)

(EPISODE: 138 )

Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. (or/ The Lord be with You)
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my brothers and sisters, to prepare ourselves to celebrate the sacred mysteries, let us call to mind our sins.
You were sent to heal the contrite of heart. Lord, have mercy.// You came to call sinners: Christ, have mercy. //You are seated at the right hand of the Father to intercede for us: Lord, have mercy.//
May almighty God have mercy on us, forgive us our sins, and bring us to everlasting life.  Amen.
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Memorial Acclamation

We proclaim your Death, O Lord, and profess your Resurrection until you come again.

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Sundays Ordinary IV

Eucharistic Prayer I

Communion side.  pwk:  RH
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Go in peace. (glorifying the Lord by your life)

Catholic 713 : Third Sunday in Ordinary Time. Year C - Sunday, 27 January 2019

Homily Third Sunday in Ordinary Time. Year C - Sunday, 27 January 2019

(The hilltop of Nazareth.  Photograph by Fr Paul W. Kelly). 

First Reading: Nehemiah 8:2-6. 8-10
Psalm: Ps 18:8-10. 15. “Your Words Lord are Spirit and life”
Second Reading: 1 Corinthians 12:12-30
Gospel Acclamation: cf Luke 4:18
Gospel: Luke 1:1-4; 4:14-21
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Please listen to my audio recordings of the readings, prayers and reflections for the Third Sunday in Ordinary Time. Year C - 1/8/2019 by clicking this link https://soundcloud.com/user-633212303/faith-hope-and-love-3c-episode-137  (EPISODE: 137)
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In the wonderful First reading, we see an ancient example of the people of God gathering to listen to God’s word and give praise and worship to the Lord. This pattern all these many centuries later is still familiar.  God’s people, including us today, gather to listen to God’s word and appreciate the meaning of it for our lives here and now, and it touches our hearts and minds and deepens our dedication to the Lord.  Sometimes God’s word challenges us and cuts us to the heart, as it reveals our areas for growth, and at other times, it encourages and nurtures us. But it never fails to be a source of grace and life for all who receive the Word.  

May we always open our hearts and minds to God’s word...  Cherishing it;  ....   being moved by it....    treasuring it and living it...

And what a beautiful second reading!  Saint Paul once again gives us a superb image - Just as the body has many parts but it is still one body.... so, we, God’s people, are invited to remember the unity we have with one another... the shared sense of purpose and the lived reality that our good is tied to the good of all people.  

This image by Saint Paul reminds me of a modern day parable I heard a few years back....   its called the “Parable of the pumpkins in the pumpkin patch.....”      

Once upon a time, all the pumpkins in the pumpkin patch were having an argument. They were arguing about which of them was the most important pumpkin of them all...... / Which of them should get a better share of things because they were the greatest pumpkin.//  One of the pumpkins put himself forward because he was the largest pumpkin of the lot  -- Another made the same claim because she was the smartest pumpkin of the whole group…….//  Another said they were the best pumpkin because of the artistic markings on their pumpkin skin....,. and so on...... The pumpkins argued for a long time..... They fought and fought until the farmer came along._ The farmer heard their arguing and smiled and she said to them "Put your hands on your heads".. And so -all the pumpkins put their hands on their heads (by the way, I didn't know pumpkins had hands but there you go) When the pumpkins put their hands on their heads._ they all fell silent…  And they all looked very embarrassed….  For, as they placed their hands on their heads... they touched a vine that was connected to their heads….. It was the same vine that connected each pumpkin to every other pumpkin...... No longer could they argue over who was the most important... And who should be set apart? They realised... They all belonged together....and each one of them was important... For they all came from the one vine.... They were one!  ...
We are like that... we each have gifts... but these gifts are “given to share” with each other, ... so we really need to help and support each-other... especially those most in need.... This image is nowhere near as eloquent as Paul’s image as the one body, but it speaks of the same idea.

Saint Luke wrote his version of the gospel (which we hear today and through most of this year), and he says he did this to provide an orderly account of things relating to Jesus.  (As well as this Gospel, Luke also wrote the “Acts of the Apostles”... clearly addressing them, at the start of both works, to the same person named “your Excellency Theophilus”  - who was obviously a Gentile believer; with a high rank and status in society... This gospel particularly speaks to influential and powerful Gentiles, who are trying to work out what Jesus’ asks of them and what God’s core values are. And it is equally inviting and challenging.
 
And at the very start of Our Lord’s ministry, God’s ancient words are announced as being fulfilled “right here and right now, as you listen..” -  In this extraordinary speech at the synagogue of his own home town Jesus, spells out the “blueprint for his ministry” – (an incredibly generous and compassionate ministry at that), ….,
It is a stunning declaration of the dawning of a new era of God’s favour, kindness, and grace…..   Where all the hopes and dreams of the poor and the needy have been noticed by God and committed to God’s care. God really cares a lot, about how badly people are faring and God means to do something about it through Jesus and his followers. God wants people to see their destiny as bound-up with the worries of others too. And use their gifts and influence to make a difference, not just for ourselves or our families and friends, but for the good of all people - whom we united to, through God.
 
Jesus’ home town of Nazareth, was a very, very important location….. It was a city of some 20,000 people. The hill (on which the city was built - and which Jesus’ listeners are soon about to unsuccessfully try to throw Jesus off!!), was not just some minor feature….  If the boy Jesus, when he was growing up in that city, had gone up that massive hill and peered over it….  The world, as it was then known, would have sprawled in front of him……   Before his eyes were the major trade and travelling routes from all the different regions to the known world……  Jesus would have watched the “world” go by as he sat there on that hill in Nazareth.  And nearby (an hours walk from Nazareth), was a town called Sepphoris, which was the location of Herod’s palace at the time…..  A town of beauty, prestige, privilege and wealth…. A town Joseph and Jesus may very well have worked in, with tradesmen’s work in this major time of building…
 
And so, Jesus’ speech at Nazareth is timely and perfectly-placed.  At the crossroads of the nations, God has intervened in our history… and has come to give us news… and thank goodness.. it is very good news indeed ……for the poor.
 
“The poor” are all of us…  Many of us are captive to one thing or another in our lives……   we all desperately need the news Jesus has to give us… so this news from Jesus is for all of us.  And for everyone… //  And we take heart that Jesus has us in mind when he begins his mission to save and help people in need… and free us from whatever imprisons and impoverishes us all…
 
The first step seems to be ‘freedom’ – To be Free from anything that stops us being the loving people God calls us to be…. /  Free to respond compassionately and justly to those in need….. //  Free from wasting our time and energy on that which does not last. 
 
Jesus words are not merely ‘talk’  - He sets about immediately doing what he has just announced to the people. Involving himself fully in the lives of those who are suffering and who feel lost.


Let us, as one body in Christ, recognise that we are all in this together....  It is not "them or us" or "every person for themselves"….  It is "us, gathered and united by Christ," to be open to/. cooperate with/ and trust in our Lord, who is good news in everything he says and does//.. in fact, he is the very best news we will ever hear….

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REFERENCES:
FR. PAUL W. KELLY
THE DAILY STUDY BIBLE. GOSPEL OF LUKE. (REVISED EDITION). BY
WILLIAM BARCLAY.
SUNDAYS AND HOLY DAY LITURGIES. YEAR C. FLOR MCCARTHY S.D.B.
Abbot's homily. Monastery of Christ in the desert.


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Archive of homilies and reflections:  http://homilycatholic.blogspot.com.au
To contact Fr. Paul, please email:  paulwkelly68@gmail.com

To listen to my weekly homily audio podcast, please click this link here.
NB - It is often a week or so Ahead:  https://soundcloud.com/user-633212303/tracks

You are welcome to subscribe to Fr Paul’s homily mail-out by sending an email to this address: paulkellyreflections+subscribe@googlegroups.com

Further information relating to the audio productions linked to this Blog:
“Faith, Hope and Love,  A time of Christian worship and reflection”  - Led by Rev Paul W. Kelly
Texts used in this programme are for the purposes of worship and prayer for listeners wherever you are.
Prayers and chants are taken from the English Translation of the Roman Missal, edition three, © 2010, The International commission on English in the liturgy.
Scriptures are from the New Revised Standard Version: © 1989,  by the national council of Churches of Christ, USA. , //adaptations to conform with Catholic liturgical norms, © 2009, by the same.
[{selected psalms } - ***Psalm verses are (also) taken from “The Psalms: A New Translation” ©1963, The Grail (England), published by Collins.. **]

Prayers of the Faithful are adapted from Robert Borg’s 1993 book “ Together we pray”. Published in Sydney Australia By  E.J. Dwyer. (out of print).

{ “Mass In Honour of St. Ralph Sherwin” -published 2011,  Composed and Sung by Jeffrey M. Ostrowski  
Featuring the….Gloria, The Creed, The Kyrie, The Mass parts, Psalms:   http://www.ccwatershed.org/chabanel/  ]]] ] COPYRIGHT @ 2018 CORPUS CHRISTI WATERSHED. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.  www.ccwatershed.org/vatican/Ralph_Sherwin_Videos/  

“Faith, Hope and Love” theme Hymn:   Words, based on 1 Corinthians 13:1-13, set to original music © 1996 by Paul W. Kelly.

For more details please visit http://homilycatholic.blogspot.com.au/
Contact us at paulwkelly68@gmail.com
Production by Kelly Enterprises Resources. 

May God bless and keep you.

Third Sunday in Ordinary Time. Year C
(Sunday, 27 January 2019)
(EPISODE: 137 )

The Lord be with you.
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Brothers and sisters, let us acknowledge our sins and so prepare ourselves to celebrate the sacred mysteries.
Lord Jesus, you call your people to turn away from sin: Lord, have mercy//You teach us wisdom, and write your truth in our inmost heart: Christ, have mercy//You forgive sins through the ministry of reconciliation: Lord, have mercy//
May almighty God have mercy on us, forgive us our sins, and bring us to everlasting life.  Amen.
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Memorial Acclamation
Save us, Saviour of the world, for by your Cross and Resurrection you have set us free.

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Sundays Ordinary III

Eucharistic Prayer II

Communion side.  pwk:  LH
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Go in peace, glorifying the Lord by your life.

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Catholic 714 : AUSTRALIA DAY NATIONAL DAY (26TH JANUARY)

AUSTRALIA DAY NATIONAL DAY (26^TH JANUARY)

(EPISODE:141)

THE LITURGY OF THE WORD
First Reading: Isaiah 32:15-18
Psalm: Ps 84:9-14. R. “The Lord speaks of peace to his people.”
Second Reading: 1 Corinthians 12:4-11
Gospel Acclamation: Matthew 5:9
Gospel: Matthew 5:1-12

Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia. Photo by Trent Szmolnik on Unsplash
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Please listen to my audio recordings of the readings, prayers and reflections for the AUSTRALIA DAY NATIONAL DAY (26TH JANUARY) (EPISODE: 141) - by clicking this link here:   https://soundcloud.com/user-633212303/faith-hope-and-love-australia-day-141  (EPISODE: 141  )
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Australia Day - 
In so many ways, we truly are the lucky country. True, no country is perfect, and each country and culture has its own blessing, (as well as its own share of shadow and troubles….)….but it is always nice to know that our home is a place where there is so much to be grateful for.  our beautiful environment   ---   (and we are all too aware that lately…. The heat and drought is a massive concern - and a national tragedy --- farmers are really doing it tough...... it has been a huge burden to so many people and communities… in great hardship….  We continue to pray for desperately needed rain to all the areas in need…. and that people of goodwill shall continue to give practical and effective assistance to the areas suffering this hardship......   We are so deeply in drought.. ….  The extremes of conditions and of weather in this great land.....certainly boggle the mind….         

But still we know there is so much to give thanks for on this national day......the democratic freedom, a comparatively excellent standard of living, our natural resources, and any problems we might think we have in relation to overcrowding and pollution, has nothing on some of the places overseas, not to mention the situation of health and unemployment support in other nations.

Today, we give thanks to God for the many gifts we have been given, and we are reminded that we live in a commonwealth… //and that this commonwealth is for the common good…. the gifts we have are gifts to share for the benefit of each other…..  

This National Day was not always called Australia Day and wasn't always celebrated on this date.  The commemoration is not without its different experiences and controversy, which reflects our nation's colonial past, as with many nations. There has been a lot of high feeling in some quarters that the indigenous people of this land do not all find this day a unifying or inspiring date. 

"The controversy over Australia Day on January 26 is that, for Australia's Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, the day marks ...(the start of European settlement here that saw many Indigenous Australians killed, and Aboriginal culture and society forever changed. And indeed, a protest march by Aboriginal activists (as early as) January 26, 1938, declared it a "Day of Mourning".

But this resisting a particular date and name for commemoration is not just something indigenous people have taken up. Us Catholics too, in Australia, had our own problems with a celebration at the time called Empire Day. In 1911, "Australia Day" was used by the Roman Catholic community for May 24, which was usually celebrated as Empire Day, in protest at the day's allegedly Protestant character and the experiences the Catholic community suffered under that sectarian time. This slight to a day that was intended to bring the British Empire together was viewed unfavourably by some.#   

The way forward is for us to see ourselves as 'all in this together.  We are many cultures and traditions and we acknowledge the mistakes and wrongs of the past and we commit ourselves to truly walking together and listening respectfully to each other and giving respect to our different heritage and cultures. and committing ourselves to practical steps to keep improving the welfare of all people.  

We pray that people everywhere will deepen their sense of belonging to a commonwealth for common good…. that there will be peace, respect, harmony and care for all others in our society…. that we will respect and reverence people as we would like to be treated ourselves...   that we might always spare a thought for the person less fortunate, whether they be next door or in the next country……  

And today, (as every day) we pray that our nation and its people develop deep within ourselves a yearning for the values of Jesus’ Beatitudes…..   // Humility,// Gentleness, // A Passion and a practical commitment to working for Justice, //to be Peacemakers,// and a people who are single-minded in serving God’s good vision for the world….. 
It is good for us to stop and give thanks for God’s many gifts to us in this blessed Southern land of the Holy Spirit…..
 +++++

Fr Paul W. Kelly

#Amanda Laugesen. "Australia Day to Invasion Day: A difficult history." In Sydney Morning Herald, 25 January 2017 6:30pm. 

https://www.smh.com.au/opinion/australia-day-to-invasion-day-a-difficult-history-20170125-gty5oq.html

+++
Archive of homilies and reflections:  http://homilycatholic.blogspot.com.au
To contact Fr. Paul, please email: paulwkelly68@gmail.com

To listen to my weekly homily audio podcast, please click this link here.
NB - It is often a week or so Ahead: https://soundcloud.com/user-633212303/tracks

You are welcome to subscribe to Fr Paul’s homily mail-out by sending an email to this address:paulkellyreflections+subscribe@googlegroups.com

Further information relating to the audio productions linked to this Blog:
“Faith, Hope and Love,  A time of Christian worship and reflection”  - Led by Rev Paul W. Kelly
Texts used in this programme are for the purposes of worship and prayer for listeners wherever you are.
Prayers and chants are taken from the English Translation of the Roman Missal, edition three, © 2010, The International Commission on English in the liturgy.
Scriptures are from the New Revised Standard Version: © 1989,  by the national council of Churches of Christ, USA. , //adaptations to conform with Catholic liturgical norms, © 2009, by the same.
 [{selected psalms } - ***Psalm verses are (also) taken from “The Psalms: A New Translation” ©1963, The Grail (England), published by Collins.. **]

Photo by Trent Szmolnik on Unsplash
Prayers of the Faithful are adapted from Robert Borg’s 1993 book “ Together we pray”. Published in Sydney Australia By  E.J. Dwyer. (out of print).

{ “Mass In Honour of St. Ralph Sherwin” -published 2011,  Composed and Sung by Jeffrey M. Ostrowski 
Featuring the….Gloria, The Creed, The Kyrie, The Mass parts, Psalms:  http://www.ccwatershed.org/chabanel/  ]]] ] COPYRIGHT @ 2018 CORPUS CHRISTI WATERSHED. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.  www.ccwatershed.org/vatican/Ralph_Sherwin_Videos/  

“Faith, Hope and Love” theme Hymn:   Words, based on 1 Corinthians 13:1-13, set to original music © 1996 by Paul W. Kelly.

For more details please visit http://homilycatholic.blogspot.com.au/
Contact us atpaulwkelly68@gmail.com
Production by Kelly Enterprises Resources. 

May God bless and keep you.


AUSTRALIA DAY NATIONAL DAY (26^TH JANUARY)

(EPISODE:  141   )

The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Spirit be with you all.
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Coming together as brothers and sisters in Christ, let us pause and reflect upon our sins, in order to celebrate the Holy Eucharist.
Brothers and sisters, the Lord is full of love and mercy. And so, as we prepare ourselves to celebrate the sacred mysteries, let us acknowledge our sins.

Lord Jesus, you came to gather the nations into the peace of God's kingdom: Lord, have mercy//

You come in word and in sacrament to strengthen us and make us holy: Christ, have mercy//

You will come again in glory with salvation for your people: Lord, have mercy.

May almighty God have mercy on us, forgive us our sins, and bring us to everlasting life.  Amen.
May almighty God have mercy on us, forgive us our sins, and bring us to everlasting life.  Amen.
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Prayers Of The Faithful

READER

* For our nation on this Australia Day. that we renew our determination to work together for justice, reconciliation and the common good.   (PAUSE)  Lord hear us:              

* For our indigenous brothers and sisters, the first peoples of Australia: that we have the grace to listen to their stories, understand their mourning, and walk gently with them on this ancient land. (PAUSE)  Lord hear us:                         

* For country communities suffering from the oppressive heat, and the severe shortage of water. That every effort is made to provide them with the practical assistance and resources they need to manage.  (PAUSE)  Lord hear us:             

* For children and teachers returning to school this week. that they begin the year with energy and enthusiasm for the adventure of learning.      (PAUSE)  Lord hear us:       

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Memorial Acclamation

When we eat this Bread and drink this Cup, we proclaim your Death, O Lord, until you come again.

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Sundays Ordinary V

Eucharistic Prayer II

Communion side.  pwk:  LH
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Go forth, the Mass is ended.

Catholic 712 : Second Sunday Ordinary Time. Year C - Sunday, 20 January 2019

Homily Second Sunday Ordinary Time. Year C - Sunday, 20 January 2019

Image: Shutterstock.com. Image ID: 1210022272: PRAGUE, CZECH REPUBLIC - OCTOBER 13, 2018: The fresco of The wedding at Cana in church kostel Svatého Václava by S. G. Rudl (1900). 

First Reading: Isaiah 62:1-5
Psalm: 95:1-3. 7-10. “Proclaim his marvellous deeds to all the nations.”
Second Reading: 1 Corinthians 12:4-11
Gospel Acclamation: cf 2 Thessalonians 2:14
Gospel: John 2:1-11
++++Please listen to my audio recordings of the readings, prayers and reflections for the Second Sunday Ordinary Time. Year C - Sunday, 20 January 2019 by clicking this link here:   https://soundcloud.com/user-633212303/faith-hope-and-love-2c  (EPISODE: 136)
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In this weekend’s gospel, the Wedding in Cana, where the wine runs out and threatens massive embarrassment to the bridal parties, the words of Jesus never cease to challenge and intrigue:  “woman, why turn to me? My hour has not yet come.” This is an unusual response.  But it matches with something later in the same incident.  The steward comments about the miraculous and extravagant and good quality of wine that Jesus’ miracle provides: “people generally serve the best wine first and keep the cheaper sort till the guests have had plenty to drink, but you have kept the best wine until last.”

Christ’s ministry was an extensive one; his mission was all-encompassing. It’s final focus would be nothing less than the fulfilment of his mission through something he described as his great and ultimate “Hour” or “Time” when he as the sacrificial Lamb of God would offer his very self for the life of the world.  Christ’s great message is that God leaves the best for last, and the good news is that at the very last, God will be utterly faithful to us and fulfil all his promises to us.
Everything about God, and Christ’s earthly life and mission and his suffering, death and resurrection, is TOP Shelf.  No half-baked quality here, but the best of everything for us.

At the very outset of his public ministry, Mary his beloved mother asks Our Lord to help a wedding couple in a socially embarrassing situation at their wedding reception. Christ turns this simple act of kindness into a SIGN of the Kingdom and a sign of the meaning of his ministry, which is to provide the best wine of mercy, compassion, inclusion, charity and heartfelt invitation into the Banquet feast of the kingdom.  

He is surely asking this question of his Mother in an ironic way?  “Why turn to me? My hour has not yet come to provide the Best wine of the Wedding Feast of the Kingdom of God, where I will be the Bridegroom and the People of God will be the Bride.” Of course he immediately helps and uses this incident as a foretaste of what is to come. And what a beautiful foretaste it is.

If this is just a sample of the Kingdom, then our minds are truly blown. And astounded we should be. This is the richness, the graciousness the absolute non-stingy fullness that God operates out of all the time. This is what we are invited into.

This gospel would have to be one of the most delightful and profound of passages. It has so many levels and is rich in symbolism.

You can tell from the subtle difference between what is said and what is done, that the translation of this particular incident is complicated and our traditional translations do not quite capture the full picture of what is going on here.

If we could have seen the faces of Jesus and Mary as they spoke, if we could have observed their body language and the tone of voice with which they spoke, the true meaning might be even clearer.

To expand on the situation, this is probably a more accurate picture of what was going on:   Mary turned to Jesus and said, “They have run out of wine.” (This situation would be an intolerable humiliation to this humble village wedding couple and their families, and a terrible failure of the strong traditions of hospitality expected in that time and culture).  Mary was clearly feeling for the terrible embarrassment and shame that would have occurred for this poor family.

Perhaps they could not afford the sufficient amount or wine required.  If we could see Jesus reaction, it would reveal much.  He says to her, “Woman, why turn to me? My hour has not come.”  Or perhaps better still, this can be more effectively rendered as “My Lady, is this the time when I will pour forth the new wine of the Kingdom? Surely this is not THAT time?”  He is being ironic, and speaking as a Prophet.

Jesus knows that he has come into this world to usher in the fullness of the Kingdom, and to pour forth the new wine of the covenant sealed in his own blood, poured forth to ransom all. He knew that the new wine of the Kingdom would only come in its fullness when he had suffered and died and rose again.

I think he had a twinkle in his eye (and perhaps even a tinge of sadness as he noted that this was all ahead of him….  It was all yet to come. However, this moment would be a little forerunner and sign of the true wine of the Kingdom which is about God’s utter faithfulness, God’s graciousness and mercy and God’s Kingdom of joy, justice and inclusion.  

The Virgin Mary knew he was going to do something about this situation, for he was graciousness and compassion personified. Mary trusted in him totally.   Mary also surely knew that he was to do greater things in the future, of which this example was only a foretaste….  

It strikes me too, that John the Baptist has been preaching the imminent coming of the Messiah. John the Baptist had warned of a time of God’s judgement and retribution.  This wedding miracle, however, makes it quite clear, that the Messiah will come not with a big stick of judgement, but with the graciousness, mercy, generosity and the Joy of a time of great Jubilee celebration.  Jesus, the Messiah would characterise the Kingdom of God as a messianic Banquet feast, rather than an apocalyptic time of punishment and judgement and retribution.

Perhaps Jesus reply to Mary (remembering that he was still in the very early days of his ministry), also indicated, “So, is this how it is to be? Not fasting, austerity, punishment and severity, but the overflowing generosity and joy of God’s time of favour? So be it then.

Let us see already unfolding the outpouring of God’s overwhelming generosity. Let us see!  Let us taste!  Fill those stone jars over there, and let us see which it is to be, (For Jesus trusted totally in his Heavenly Father and was utterly obedient to the Father’s will, as Mary would certainly have known when she asked the question of Jesus and when she instructed the attendants to obey Jesus’ instructions to the letter!),

There is something else, too.  This is a profound miracle and a beautiful sign. It is a reminder of God’s blessing of marriage, and the gracious generosity of God’s love for us, and his joining with us in the joyful and sacred moments of life.  Also, what a wonderful miracle to reveal God’s message.  

Why did Jesus not reserve this amazing sign for a more so-called “important” event, like a dinner where Herod was present, or where Pontius Pilate was there to be convinced beyond doubt of Jesus’ credentials.  But, of course, that is not God’s ways. That would be human thinking…  

God deliberately chose a humble family wedding, in a small and poor village to show the utter fullness of God’s glory and graciousness.  God’s message is for the poor. God’s Kingdom is found in the “everyday” and the “ordinary,” and the humble shall inherit the Kingdom.  It is also for the ordinary people that Jesus came to bring the Good News, just as much as the high and the mighty.  

It also says something about the importance of the ordinary, everyday events of our home life, our work life and our social life.  God’s Kingdom is to be encountered just as much in the everyday and ordinary events of life as in the occasional and the extraordinary events that can occur.

This wedding feast miracle “brought God right into the home circle and into the ordinary things of life. Jesus' action at Cana of Galilee shows what he really thought of a home. God "manifested his glory," and that showing of his true Glory took place within a home.

There is a strange paradox in the attitude of many people to the place they call home. They would admit at once that there is no more precious place in all the world than one’s home; and yet, at the same time, they would also have to admit that in it they claim the right to be far more discourteous, far more boorish, far more selfish, far more impolite than they would dare to be in public.

It is not uncommon that people can treat the ones they most love in a way that we would never dare to treat a chance acquaintance. So often it is strangers who see us at our best and those who live with us who see us at our worst. We ought ever to remember that it was in a humble home that Jesus manifested forth his glory.

To him home was a place for which nothing but his best was good enough. It was where he put his best foot forward. We have already seen that in the East hospitality was always a sacred duty. It would have brought unspeakable embarrassment and shame to that home that day if the wine had run out.

It was to save a humble Galilean family from hurt that Jesus put forth his power. It was in sympathy, in kindness, in understanding for ordinary humble folk that Jesus always acted.
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FR. PAUL W. KELLY.

THE GOSPEL OF JOHN. Volume 1, (Chapters 1 to 7). REVISED EDITION. Translated with an Introduction 
and Interpretation, by WILLIAM BARCLAY. THE WESTMINSTER PRESS, PHILADELPHIA. 1975.

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Texts used in this programme are for the purposes of worship and prayer for listeners wherever you are.
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Scriptures are from the New Revised Standard Version: © 1989,  by the national council of Churches of Christ, USA. , //adaptations to conform with Catholic liturgical norms, © 2009, by the same.
 [{selected psalms } - ***Psalm verses are (also) taken from “The Psalms: A New Translation” ©1963, The Grail (England), published by Collins.. **]

Prayers of the Faithful are adapted from Robert Borg’s 1993 book “ Together we pray”. Published in Sydney Australia By  E.J. Dwyer. (out of print).

{ “Mass In Honour of St. Ralph Sherwin” -published 2011,  Composed and Sung by Jeffrey M. Ostrowski 
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May God bless and keep you.


Second Sunday Ordinary Time. Year C
(Sunday, 20 January 2019)

(EPISODE: 136 )

The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Spirit be with you all.
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Brothers and sisters, the Lord is full of love and mercy. And so, as we prepare ourselves to celebrate the sacred mysteries, let us acknowledge our sins. 
Lord Jesus, you came to reconcile us to the Father and to one another: Lord, have mercy//You heal the wounds of our sin and division: Christ, have mercy// You intercede for us with the Father: Lord, have mercy//
May almighty God have mercy on us, forgive us our sins, and bring us to everlasting life.  Amen.
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Memorial Acclamation

When we eat this Bread and drink this Cup, we proclaim your Death, O Lord, until you come again.

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Sundays Ordinary II

Eucharistic Prayer II

Communion side.  pwk:  RH
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Go and announce the Gospel of the Lord.