Liturgy Reflection

Reflections on the Weekend liturgical readings

Reflections on Sunday’s Readings: February 12, 2012

UncleanThis is the 6th Sunday in Ordinary Time: God calls us to be an inclusive community. Suffering which is the human condition can alienate us from each other rather than leading us to be the compassion of God for one another. When we are made aware of the pain of another, it is through prayer, experience and openness of heart, that the suffering individual(s) becomes our neighbor. We all belong to God, those of us who at this moment are well and those of us who are suffering.

Readings for this Sunday:

  • Lev. 13:1-2,45-46. Those suffering from leprosy knew that they must be examined by a priest and declared unclean; they must live alone outside the city limits; and proclaim out loud they are “unclean”.
  • 1 Cor. 10:31-11:1 As Paul did all for the “glory of God” as one who imitated Christ, so too must we live lives that mirror Christ and give God the glory.
  • Mark 1: 40-45. Like the leper in today’s gospel, do we “trust God”? Do we approach God putting our lives in God’s hands? When we are healed or have experienced the daily graces God bestows on us, do we exclaim through our lives the work God has done for us?

Reflections on Sunday’s Readings: February 5, 2012

Jeasus healsThis Sunday is the Fifth Sunday in Ordinary Time. Today’s gospel gives each of us direction for our lives.

After healing many, Jesus “went off to a deserted place, where he prayed.” When Simon and the others found him and told him people were looking for him, Jesus answered, “Let us go on to the nearby villages that I may preach there also. For this purpose have I come.”

Work. Prayer. Work. Perhaps a better trio would be: Serve. Pray. Serve. Jesus’ life is the perfect example for our lives. Each of us is God’s gift to the world. Each of us has been called to use ourselves in service to others. For Jesus it was to preach. His apostles and disciples assisted, each in his/her own way. So too for us. Our purpose, our calling as followers of Jesus, is to use our unique lives to spread the Gospel. It is through our lives that others will come to believe in the greatest life of all.

Reflections on Sunday’s Readings: January 29, 2012

January 29This is the Fourth Sunday in Ordinary Time. Today’s gospel shows Christ as one who has authority, the Holy One of God who heals and teaches and liberates. May we, too, be released from all that binds us, so that renewed by this liturgy and sustained by the community we may be about the work of God’s reign with unhindered resolve.

Readings for this Sunday:

  • Dt 18: 15-20. I will raise up a great prophet for you.
  • 1 Cor 7: 32-35. I would like you to be free of all worries and able to focus on Christ.
  • Mk 1: 21-28. Jesus speaks with authority and with power, teaching and healing.

Reflections on Sunday’s Readings: January 22, 2012

fishermenThis is the Third Sunday in Ordinary Time: Hearing and responding to the call to discipleship. God called and worked, unexpectedly, through simple fishermen – and now works through us. Jesus calls us, and when we respond, he fashions us into believers who can live the gospel. Are we open to hear the call? How are we tending our relationship with Jesus, repenting from what blocks or harms it? Are we responding and living according to our call and relationship with God?

Readings for this Sunday:

  • Jonah 3: 1-10. Jonah preaches repentance to a people who don't believe in Jonah's God. Jonah is as shocked as anyone when Nineveh repents, and they were spared.
  • 1 Cor 7: 29-31. The world we know is passing away. Stay focused on what is important and act accordingly.
  • Mk 1: 14-20. Called to discipleship: Come, and I will show you how to fish for people.

Reflections on Sunday’s Readings: January 15, 2012

Come and SeeThis is the Second Sunday in Ordinary Time.

How often we miss God’s call, or need others to point it out to us! The encounter with Jesus was so powerful that it totally changed the lives of Andrew and Peter, who immediately became disciples. Do we know Jesus well enough to recognize his call? Our baptism calls us to follow Jesus by living the “paschal mystery,” following the model of Christ by dying to self and rising to new life with Christ. Do we see this dying and rising in all the ordinary events of our lives? How are we being called to let go, or to receive new life?

Reflections on Sunday’s Readings: January 8, 2012

Epiphany BannerCHRISTMAS Season 2011-12

Feast of the Epiphany: May we be the light and peace of Christ for the world!

The story of the "magi from the east" graphically shows the Christian belief that the meaning of Christmas is for all; it is not limited to one group of people or one country. Christ is the light and the savior of all. God’s light, shining on us, must be reflected out from us, to continue this wonderful “epiphany.” Let us pray for the grace to be Epiphany for the world. Happy Feast Day!

Reflections on Sunday’s Readings: January 1, 2012

Mary and ChildCHRISTMAS Season 2011-12

Wishing you and your loved ones every blessing.
May peace come to birth among us!

As the world ushers in a new year we gather to reflect more deeply on the mysteries of God’s ways among us, revealed in the coming of Christ into our world. Today we celebrate the end of the first week of Christmas by honoring Mary, the Mother of God, who reflected deeply on the wonder God revealed to her through the birth of her son. We too are a people to whom God is revealed in humble and concrete ways. We are invited to look back on the past as a way of moving forward into the future. God, who has blest us in the past, is the same God who will bless us in the future. How do we share the blessings we receive? How can each of us bring the love and peace of God to the world?

Reflections on Sunday’s Readings: December 25, 2011

CHRISTMAS 2011: Wishing you and your loved ones every blessing.

ChristmasMay peace come to birth among us! Here in our midst comes the hoped-for promise;
Here comes the unfolding mystery of God among us.
The world is again made new.
We are challenged to be born again;
to become like wide-eyed children,
witnessing life for the first time.
Come, let us worship our God,
who has come in our flesh.

May we, too, embody the Spirit of God
and bring love and peace to our world.

Reflections on Sunday’s Readings: December 17-18, 2011

MaryADVENT 2011: CHOOSING TO INCARNATE PEACE

Fourth Sunday of Advent: EMBODIMENT…Today’s scriptures reveal a God who makes a home with us, One who takes on our very humanity to love us more completely. Like Mary, it’s up to us to prepare the way -- for God to make a home in our hearts and lives. How is the presence of Christ becoming real in you? How can we, the body of Christ, become peace for the world?

Readings for this Sunday:

  • 2 Sam 7: 1-5. 8-14. Nothing we can do for God can ever surpasses what God does for us—and our ways are not God’s ways.
  • Rm 16: 25-27. The Gospel reveals the mystery hidden for long ages.
  • Lk 1: 26-38. The Word is made flesh by God’s initiative... nothing is impossible for God.

Reflections on Sunday’s Readings: December 10-11, 2011

John the BaptistADVENT 2011: CHOOSING TO INCARNATE PEACE

Third Sunday of Advent: TRANSFORMATION… John the Baptist came to testify to the light, preparing for the coming of the Messiah through baptism. We, too, are transformed through baptism to be the body of Christ, to be peace for the world. How is the Spirit leading you to fully receive Christ’s peace, and all the gifts God gives?

Readings for this Sunday:

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