Third Sunday in Ordinary Time. Year A - Sunday, January 22, 2023 (EPISODE-402 )

Third Sunday in Ordinary Time. Year A - Sunday, January 22, 2023 (EPISODE-402 )

Readings for Sunday, January 22, 2023 - Third Sunday in Ordinary Time. Year A
FIRST READING: Isa 8:23b—9:3
Ps 27:1, 4, 13-14. "The Lord is my light and my salvation."
SECOND READING: 1 Cor 1:10-13, 17
GOSPEL ACCLAMATION (cf. Matt 4:23). Alleluia, alleluia! Jesus preached the good news of the Kingdom. And healed all who were sick.
GOSPEL: Matt 4:12-23 or 4:12-17

Image Credit- Shutterstock Licensed. Stock Photo ID: 628135922 - ANTWERP, BELGIUM - APRIL 22, 2017: Stained Glass window in the 15th Century Elzenveld Chapel in Antwerp, Belgium, depicting Jesus Calling Four Fishermen to Follow Him Important information. Editorial Use Only.Photo Contributor: jorisvo
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Please listen to the audio recordings of the Mass – (Readings, prayers, and homily), for Third Sunday in Ordinary Time. Year A - Sunday, January 22, 2023, by clicking this link here: https://soundcloud.com/user-633212303/faith-hope-and-love-third-sunday-of-ordinary-time-year-a-episode-402/s-XPfe1zA5A1Z  (EPISODE- 402)
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GOSPEL THIS WEEKEND
If we thought that the infant church was more filled with the Spirit.,… more united…… more idyllic than ours today….. The second reading quickly brings us back to reality…
 
Back in New Testament times, the Corinthian community had just as many misunderstandings, conflicts, personality clashes and power plays and ego clashes as one can see in modern society. At the time of Paul's letter to them, the Corinthian community was quite divided…. It was bickering and fragmenting…. Ambition, pride, political wrangling, and misunderstanding were damaging the community… and the second reading tells us that people were taking sides along the lines of various personalities in the community. Instead of the message of Jesus' Gospel… Saint Paul implored the community members to remember their unity in Jesus… So that we put our service in the hands of Jesus' good news, St Paul reminds us that fostering a sense of unity – that is, seeing ourselves as all on about the same mission, one single project with different aspects - this mindset is essential.
 
The calling of the disciples is a wonderful example to us of a disciple's response and having a deeper metaphorical meaning…. Jesus called his disciples, and they dropped everything and followed him immediately, leaving everything behind. They did this literally and also figuratively… They left their previous life behind and its attachments, and also they – in a sense – forgot themselves and their plans and ambitions and followed a new path of being on about Christ's vision.
 
Saint Paul, in the second reading, continues this theme of self-forgetting and Christ-focusing! If there is to be any ambition (as St Paul puts it elsewhere in his writings)….it must only be the ambition to support each other and all others - In Christ - with all our hearts... If there is to be any competition in the Christian community… it is only to be trying to excel in truly showing each other, mutually, the kindness and compassion of Christ and by striving with all our effort at working together with our vision looking outward and forward, towards the goal Our Lord himself has set…..... St Paul, when he says this, knew that this was not always easy... It requires sacrifice, humility and real dedication... (division can occur for different reasons.. people may genuinely disagree on how to achieve a goal or a value… but as St Paul says in another letter, the answer to such dilemmas goes down to the fundamental debt we have to one another….….(this time to the Roman community of believers)… 
 
The only thing we owe each other is this….- the debt of mutual love …… And everything we do, everything we say, must be for the furtherance of Christ's gospel, at the service of the establishment of God's Kingdom, and never merely our own needs and ambitions. We are all "for Christ" and not for anything else or anyone else.
 
Jesus is the light... In baptism, we are called to carry this 'light of Christ to others.....
 
Jesus shone his divine light on others by forgiving, healing, welcoming, sharing, inviting and giving.....we think about the many ways we are invited to bring Christ's light to others... And especially in all we do and say ….to make the light of Christ shine brighter in us, through us, and be seen at work in the community....... We are Striving, with God’s grace and hope,  to be united in one purpose and heart for God’s Kingdom. 
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References:

Fr Paul W. Kelly

Barclay, W. (1975). The Gospel of Matthew. Part I. 2nd ed. Edinburgh: St. Andrew Press.

Image Credit- Shutterstock Licensed. Stock Photo ID: 628135922 - ANTWERP, BELGIUM - APRIL 22, 2017: Stained Glass window in the 15th Century Elzenveld Chapel in Antwerp, Belgium, depicting Jesus Calling Four Fishermen to Follow Him Important information. Editorial Use Only.Photo Contributor: jorisvo


Third Sunday in Ordinary Time. Year A (Sunday, January 22, 2023) (EPISODE- 402)

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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{{Many thanks for participating in this time of praise and reflection upon our loving God.}}

Brothers and sisters, let us acknowledge our sins and so prepare ourselves to celebrate the sacred mysteries.
Lord Jesus, you have revealed yourself as the way to the Father: Lord, have mercy//You have poured out on your people the Spirit of truth: Christ, have mercy//You are the Good Shepherd, leading us to eternal life: 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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Ps 27:1, 4, 13-14. "The Lord is my light and my salvation."

GOSPEL ACCLAMATION (cf. Matt 4:23). Alleluia, alleluia! Jesus preached the good news of the Kingdom. And healed all who were sick.
Memorial Acclamation
3. Save us, Saviour of the world, for by your Cross and Resurrection, you have set us free.
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PREFACE: Sundays Ordinary II
Euch Prayer Three

(theme variation: 1)

(pre+post variation: v1-long)
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{Many thanks for participating in this time of praise and reflection upon our loving God.}

Go and announce the Gospel of the Lord.

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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: https://soundcloud.com/user-633212303/tracks

You are welcome to subscribe to Fr Paul's homily mail-out by emailing this address: Subscribe to the mailing list to keep up-to-date.

Further information relating to the audio productions linked to this Blog:
"Faith, Hope and Love - Christian worship and reflection" - Led by Rev Paul Kelly

Prayers and chants — Roman Missal, 3rd edition, © 2010, The International Commission on English in the liturgy. (ICEL)

Scriptures - New Revised Standard Version: © 1989, and 2009 by the NCC-USA. (National Council of Churches of Christ - USA)

"The Psalms" ©1963, 2009, The Grail - Collins publishers.

Prayers of the Faithful - " Together we pray" by Robert Borg'. E.J. Dwyer, Publishers, (1993). (Sydney, Australia).

Sung "Mass In Honour of St. Ralph Sherwin" - By Jeffrey M. Ostrowski. The Gloria, Copyright © 2011 ccwatershed.org.

- "Faith, Hope and Love" theme hymn - in memory of William John Kelly - Inspired by 1 Corinthians 13:1-13. Music by Paul W. Kelly. Arranged and sung, with additional lyrics by Stefan Kelk. 2019.

"Quiet Time." Instrumental Reflection music. Written by Paul W Kelly. 1988, 2007. & This arrangement: Stefan Kelk, 2020.

- "Today I Arise" - For Trisha J Kelly. Original words and music by Paul W. Kelly. Inspired by St Patrick's Prayer. Arranged and sung, with additional lyrics by Stefan Kelk. 2019.

Sound Engineering and editing - P.W. Kelly.

Microphones: - Shure MV5 Digital Condenser (USB)

Editing equipment: NCH Software - MixPad Multitrack Studio Recording Software
NCH – WavePad Audio Editing Software. Masters Edition v 12.44

Sound Processing: iZotope RX 6 Audio Editor

[Production - KER - 2023]
May God bless and keep you.
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