An Introduction to the Sunday Scriptures - January 19, 2025
“Do Whatever He Tells You”
This Sunday, we begin anew what is called "Ordinary Time". It is the time between the high seasons of Christmas and Easter and between Easter and Advent. The readings for today remind us that God's love for us is like a young man's love for his bride: exuberant, with an abundance of generosity. God’s love for us is an overabundant love.
Our first reading (Isaiah 62:1-5) is from a time when the Jewish people were returning to Jerusalem after their 50-year exile in Babylon. They were rebuilding their city of ruin. Isaiah's words gave them hope in the future, that God still loved them and would pour out His love upon them - "For the LORD delights in you and makes your land His spouse. As a young man marries a virgin, your Builder shall marry you."
In our Epistle reading (1 Corinthians 12:4-11), St. Paul teaches us that God, through His Holy Spirit, is the giver of all gifts. Each one of us has at least one spiritual gift (manifestation) from the Spirit, to be used in service to God and others. The gifts are all different as the Spirit chooses, "but one and the same Spirit produces all of these, distributing them individually to each person as He wishes."
In our Gospel reading (John 2:1-11), we hear St. John describe the miracle of the wedding feast of Cana as the first of Jesus' "signs" or miracles and the beginning of His public ministry. Jesus may have chosen this miracle and this setting to manifest His glory because of its likeness to our covenant relationship with God and the overabundance of His love. Jesus could have made ordinary wine, but He chose to make the choicest wine. He could have made one jar, but He made six. Note the trust His mother had in Jesus when she simply said, "Do whatever He tells you."
Imagine if we lived in a town with all gas stations and no grocery stores or drug stores. How difficult life would be if God only gave one type of spiritual gift. We should rejoice and give thanks for the wide variety of charisms the Spirit gives to His loved ones. It is this mosaic that portrays the image of a God so in love with His chosen ones that, "As a bridegroom rejoices in his bride, so shall your God rejoice in you." And so what are we to do with our individual gifts/charisms? Perhaps we should just listen to the words of Jesus’ mother Mary, “Do whatever He tells you.“
www.bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/011925.cfm
An Introduction to Sunday's Scripture Readings - January 12, 2025
“You Are My Beloved Son; With You I Am Well Pleased”
Today's liturgy of the Baptism of the Lord marks the conclusion of our liturgical celebrations of the miracle of Christmas. God entered humanity at Jesus' birth and now again, God entered into humanity in His baptism.
Jesus stood in line with sinners to be baptized by John. It was a mark of humility in truly being one with us. "For our sake He made Him to be sin who did not know sin, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him." (2 Cor 5:21).
In our first reading (Isaiah 42:1-4, 6-7), we hear from the first of four "Servant Songs of Isaiah". These four poems were seen by the early Church, and ever since, to refer to the Anointed One, the Christ. In this first poem, it is God's selection of the Servant who would be a "covenant of the people, a light for the nations." He is “my chosen one with whom I am pleased.”
In our Epistle reading (Titus 2:11-14,3:4-7), St. Paul tells us that because of the appearance of Christ, we have been trained to reject godless ways and to live temperately, justly and devoutly as we “await the blessed hope, the appearance of our great God and savior Jesus Christ.” Paul tells us this is “not because of any righteous deeds we had done, but because of his mercy.” Our hope is that we will become heirs of eternal life.
In our Gospel reading (Luke 3:15-16, 21-22), we hear of the baptism of Jesus, what happened before and what happened after. John proclaimed "one mightier than I is coming". After Jesus was baptized and praying, the Father and the Spirit make known their participation in this event—”You are my beloved son . . .”. From this point on, Jesus will baptize with the "Holy Spirit and fire", preaching, teaching and healing.
In our readings today, we are reminded that Baptism is the gateway to life in the Spirit. We are reminded of our own baptism - our own anointing by the Holy Spirit as priest, prophet and king. We are called to follow in the footsteps of Jesus, "doing good and healing all those oppressed by the devil." This is a mission we would have no ability to do except by the grace of the Holy Spirit.
www.bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/011225.cfm
An Introduction to the Sunday Scripture Readings - December 29, 2024
“He Went Down With Them And Came To Nazareth And Was Obedient To Them”
This Sunday is the Feast of the Holy Family of Jesus, Mary and Joseph. In this important solemnity, the Church seeks to show us what makes a family holy – how a family can live a holy life in the midst of daily struggles. Our two examples today are not perfect, idyllic families but fully human with all their ups and downs. Sustaining them, though, is a faith and trust in God.
Our first reading, taken from the First Book of Sirach (3:2-6, 12-14) can be summed up in just six words - Honor thy father and thy mother. It is a call for love and respect within the family that is holy as the holy family itself. Sirach writes, “God sets a father in honor over his children; a mother’s authority he confirms over her sons . . . Whoever reveres his father will live a long life; he who obeys his father brings comfort to his mother.”
In our Epistle reading (1 John 3:1-2, 21-24), St. John gives us a clue to our destiny, “Beloved, we are God’s children now; what we shall be has not yet been revealed. We do know that when it is revealed we shall be like Him.” John’s letter calls us to holiness, to love one another, to have confidence, to believe in the name of Jesus. We who keep His commandments remain in Him and He remains in us.
In our Gospel reading (Luke 2:41-52) is the story we know well as “The Finding in the Temple.” It is a story of the tension of an adolescent Jesus, full of zeal to be about His father's business, and yet very much under the control and loving protection of His parents. In the end, Jesus returned with them to Nazareth and was obedient to His parents, while His mother pondered all these events in her heart.
Our family is God’s gift through which we journey home to the Father; our parents, brothers, sisters, and siblings in Christ are all on the same journey with us. May we pray for guidance and follow the example set for us by the holy family of Jesus, Mary and Joseph. "See what love the Father has bestowed on us that we may be called Children of God."
www.bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/122924.cfm
An Introduction to the Sunday Scripture Readings - December 22, 2024
“He Shall Be Peace!”
In this fourth Sunday of Advent, the Church shifts our focus from the prophesies of the end times to the coming birth of our savior,
Jesus.
In our first reading (Micah 5:1-4), the prophet Micah proclaimed the role of Bethlehem, the ancient birthplace of King David, as the birthplace of the savior Messiah, who would restore the children of Israel from the scattered lands. The Prophet Micah writes, “You, Bethlehem-Ephrathah, too small to be among the clans of Judah, from you shall come forth for me one who is to be ruler in Israel … He shall stand firm and shepherd his flock by the strength of the LORD, in the majestic name of the LORD, his God….”
In our Epistle reading (Hebrews 10:5-10), we hear of Jesus's suffering for the sins of the world, in contrast to the repeated and imperfect sacrifice of the priests under the old law. Jesus understood that the continual offering of blood sacrifices did not effect the forgiveness of their sins, so He, perceiving the will of the Father, offered His own body for the forgiveness of sins once, for all. The Hebrews author writes, “When Christ came into the world, he said: ‘Sacrifice and offering you did not desire, but a body you prepared for me; in holocausts and sin offerings you took no delight. Then I said, ‘As is written of me in the scroll, behold, I come to do your will, O God.’“
In our Gospel reading (Luke 1:39-45), we hear of Mary's visit to her cousin Elizabeth, who was pregnant with John the Baptist. Elizabeth proclaimed the child in Mary's womb as "my Lord" as Elizabeth's own child in her womb "leaped for joy" at the sound of Mary's voice. “When Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting, the infant leaped in her womb, and Elizabeth, filled with the Holy Spirit, cried out in a loud voice and said, ‘Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb. And how does this happen to me, that the mother of my Lord should come to me?’”
And so we take heart - it won't be long now. Our Christ is near, and when He comes, He Shall Be Peace! May we take that peace into our hearts and may it rule our lives.
www.bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/122224.cfm
An Introduction to Sunday's Scripture Readings - December 25
“AND THE WORD BECAME FLESH AND DWELT AMONG US”
Our readings for Christmas Mass at night draw a direct connection between what Isaiah prophesied more than 500
years before Christ was born and what took place that Christmas night when the prophesy was fulfilled in all its humble glory.
In our first reading (Isaiah 9:1-6), we hear the prophesy of Isaiah that is proclaimed every Christmas Eve night - God's own Son will come to deliver us. "For a child is born to us, a son is given us; upon his shoulder dominion rests. They name him Wonder-Counselor, God-Hero, Father-Forever, Prince of Peace. His dominion is vast and forever peaceful, from David's throne, and over his kingdom, which he confirms and sustains by judgment and justice, both now and forever.”
In our Epistle (Titus 2:11-14), St. Paul leads us to remember that Christ promised to come again and will deliver us from all lawlessness. Paul teaches us how to live while we await the return of Jesus our Savior. “The grace of God has appeared, saving all and training us to reject godless ways and worldly desires and to live temperately, justly, and devoutly in this age, as we await the blessed hope, the appearance of the glory of our great God and savior Jesus Christ.”
Our Gospel reading (Luke 2:1-14) is the account of Jesus' humble birth as Joseph and Mary traveled to Bethlehem to register for the census of the house of David. The first to bear witness were the lowly shepherds from the surrounding hillsides.
The birth of the Jesus the Messiah was not just something that happened a long time ago. It was an event foretold for centuries and awaited fervently by the people of Israel. From the moment of Jesus' birth to his tragic death and triumphant resurrection, he was the embodiment of humility, patience, and love. It is how he calls us to live "temperately, justly and devoutly in this age as we await the blessed hope."
https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/122523-night.cfm
Click 'Read more' for the reflection on the Christmas Day readings.