GOD’S WORD

God's Word This Season

DECEMBER 05

SECOND SUNDAY OF ADVENT

PREPARE THE WAY

In today’s Gospel, Luke introduces John the Baptist. John is a fiery figure, who preaches a baptism of repentance, and informs people about the coming of the Messiah. John invites the people to prepare their hearts by changing their lives. This is indeed Good News. There is no time to waste: all people will see the salvation of God; they must prepare themselves. They must change whatever in their lives is holding them back, so that they will recognise the Lord when he comes.

This Advent season is an opportunity for us to think about our lives and to change whatever needs changing, so that we too will recognise the Lord when he comes.

Today’s Readings

Ba 5:1-9; Ps 125; Ph 1:4-6.8-11; Lk 3:1-6

DECEMBER 12 THIRD SUNDAY OF ADVENT

DON’T WORRY; BE HAPPY!

These are the very first words of today’s Mass: Be happy! “Rejoice in the Lord always; again I say, rejoice! The Lord is near!” (Phil. 4:4) We all want to be happy. If only I had enough money that I didn’t have to go out to work! If only I had a bigger house, or a better car! If only I could afford a villa in the sun, or at least a nice, winter holiday! If only I could afford a

DECEMBER 19 FOURTH SUNDAY OF ADVENT

JUMPING FOR JOY

Joy is infectious, and Mary couldn’t wait to share her good news with her cousin Elizabeth. She knew Elizabeth would rejoice with her. She was to bear God’s son, and such a joy must be shared. When Elizabeth heard the news, she was filled with the Spirit of God. The infectious joy caused the child in her womb to leap for joy. Generations had looked forward to the deliverance of Israel by the Messiah; this generation would see him; and generations to come would rejoice too. Joy would renew the world.

John the Baptist rejoiced in the womb at the news that Jesus was to be born. This dour, harsh-sounding prophet was not motivated by anger or uncompromising zeal, as we might at first think. He was fuelled by joy. He was to announce Christ, baptise Christ, and die for Christ as a witness to the truth. All this he did, rejoicing that salvation was close at hand. top-class education for my children! Have you noticed how many more people buy Lotto tickets when the prize money is bigger than usual?

However, the happiness that Jesus offers is of a different kind. As Jesus tells us, it is in giving that we receive, in dying (to ourselves) that we live. True happiness is not about getting and hoarding and showing how better off we are than those around us. It is about trusting in the Lord; it is about giving and sharing. It is about thinking less of our own needs and more of other people’s needs.

But why does the liturgy talk about happiness today? Because in just a few days' time we will celebrate the birthday of the one who is the source of true happiness, Jesus our Saviour.

Today’s Readings

Zp 3:14-18; Ps Is 12:2-6; Ph 4:4-7; Lk 3:10-18

Today’s Readings

DECEMBER 26 FEAST OF THE HOLY FAMILY

LISTENING AND LEARNING

One of the first images we have of the great teacher of humankind is of him sitting and listening – listening and learning. He has slipped away from his parents to be with the doctors of the law, to ask them questions and so to learn from them. Mary and Joseph are puzzled and hurt when they find him, and they question him as to why he had left them. He tells them he was obeying a higher authority – the highest authority. He had been about his heavenly Father’s business. Mary and Joseph too must listen and learn. They do not fully understand the mission of Jesus, and they must ponder the mystery of it all.

Jesus returned with them to Nazareth and lived under their authority. He grew in stature and in wisdom, learning about life and about faith from his parents.

The family life of Jesus, spent in the obscurity of Nazareth, was to prepare him for all that lay ahead. Here he was to learn the virtues that he was to prize and to preach in later life. He could observe ordinary human beings going about their everyday affairs, and learn the lessons every person must learn to live well in the world. Here he would also see the darkness that lies in the divided human heart, and the evil actions that issue from it. That evil would confront him in later years, and would be no match for him, but first he must grow and live and learn.

It would be a mistake to idealise the family life of Jesus. What could and must be said about it is that it was a real family life, with joys and woes, laughter and tears. The Word really had become flesh, and really was living among us.

Today’s Readings

1 Sm 1:20-22.24-28; Ps 83; 1 Jn 3:1-2.2124; Lk 2:41-52

JANUARY 02 SECOND SUNDAY OF CHRISTMAS

THE LAST WORD

The whole New Testament is really an attempt to answer the question Jesus puts to his followers: “Who do you say I am?” Yet the Gospels are not biographies of Jesus. They don’t tell his story from birth to death, but rather are reflections on his significance in God’s plan of salvation for the world.

In today’s Gospel, we read John’s wonderful account of who Jesus is. In this opening passage of his Gospel, John outlines the bare bones of the story, which he will fill in with stories and parables as the narrative unfolds. John’s reflection springs from the very beginning of creation. Jesus is the Word of God, present with God before time began. Through him all things came to be, and he gives life to all that exists. He is God’s only Son, through whom all of creation has the opportunity to share in God’s life. He has pitched his tent in the midst of our world, and begun his mission, announced by John the Baptist. Christ is the light that shines so brightly no darkness can overcome it. But people have refused to recognise the light, and they languish in the darkness. Those who hear the Word, however, and respond to him will be called the children of God.

As Christians, we are called to respond to God’s word, and to be God’s voice and light in our world today. Through our sharing in the Eucharist, we renew our commitment to help the Light of God to shine in our world, by the example of our lives.

Today’s Readings

Si 24:1-2.8-12; Ps 147; Eph 1:3-6.15-18; Jn 1:1-18

JANUARY 09 THE BAPTISM OF THE LORD

THE HEAVENS OPEN

Today’s feast marks the end of the Christmas season and prepares us for the story of Jesus’ earthly work as it will unfold during the rest of the church’s year.

The Gospel has two parts. The first describes the feeling of expectancy that had gripped the people. John the Baptist was a fresh voice that rang out with authority. Could he be the long-awaited Messiah who would throw off the yoke of the Roman oppressor and restore the ancient kingdom of Israel? John is quick to dampen their expectations. Someone more powerful than he is coming, he says, whose sandals he is unfit to untie.

The second part describes the baptism of Jesus and its aftermath. Luke tells us little about the baptism itself. Jesus takes his place among the crowds that allowed John to submerge them in the Jordan river as a sign of their desire to repent and to be cleansed of sin. Shortly afterwards, while “Jesus was at prayer," the heavens open.

It’s not easy for us to imagine the heavens opening. We use that phrase for a heavy rain shower. For a Jew, it would mean that the barrier separating the earthly world from the heavenly is opened for a moment. “The Spirit descended on him in bodily shape, like a dove.' In the Old Testament, the Spirit descended on prophets to mark them out as God’s servants. The opening chapter of the Bible describes how the Spirit of God “hovers over the deep,” as though the Spirit were some great bird. The heavenly voice declares that this man on whom the Spirit rests is not simply another prophet: he is the Son, the Beloved, on whom God’s favour rests.

Today’s Readings

Is 40:1-5.9-11; Ps 103; Tt 2:11-14.3:4-7; Lk 3:15-16.21-22

God's Word This Season

JANUARY 16 SECOND SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME

COMETH THE HOUR

The wedding feast of Cana is a miracle story but John is careful not to use that word. He prefers the word “sign.” You will notice at the end he tells us that this was the first of the signs given by Jesus. Sign is different from miracle because its significance is not just in the miraculous deed itself but in how it points to something more mysterious.

In the Middle East, hospitality is an important virtue. Being tight with food and drink was shameful – being generous increased the honour of families or individuals. Extra guests could easily strain the resources a family had gathered for the occasion, and that is where our story begins.

The mother of Jesus spots that the wine is running out fast and realises how shamed the couple and their families will be by such a disaster. She asks Jesus to do something about it. The exchange

JANUARY 23 THIRD SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME

GOOD NEWS PEOPLE

Today’s Gospel is slightly complicated. It skips from the beginning of the first chapter of Luke to four chapters further on. The first four verses are taken from the author’s introduction. They tell us two important things: why Luke wrote and for whom he wrote. “Many others,” he says, have written accounts of the Jesus story. How many we don’t know, but probably Mark and Matthew. Luke has drawn on them to present his own “orderly account” of the events of Jesus life. The Gospel is trustworthy, he says, because it is based on accounts handed down by people who were eye-witnesses to the deeds of Jesus.

Luke is writing for someone called Theophilus, which is a Greek name meaning ‘lover of God.’ Theophilus may have been a convert anxious to learn more about Jesus. He may also have been wealthy enough to help defray the cost of publishing the Gospel. Covering the cost of the production of a book (patronage) was common in Luke’s time. It gave the donor a certain fame between them is short but rather mysterious. He calls her “woman.” This is not necessarily a sign of disrespect but may be rather formal, like our expression ‘ma’am.’ What’s surprising is that he says “My hour is not yet come.” This is the first time John speaks of Jesus’ hour. Later in his Gospel, John tells us when ‘the hour’ of Jesus has finally arrived: it is the night before his Passion. His mother doesn’t take no for an answer, even if she quietly leaves centre stage after telling the servants to do whatever he asks them to do.

Now Jesus begins to act. He instructs the servants to fill six stone water jars to the brim. Most household vessels in Palestine were made of pottery. Stone vessels were expensive. Observant Jews liked to use stone if they could afford it because stone did not pick up and pass on ritual impurity.

Attention now shifts to two new characters, the steward of the feast and the bridegroom. We might call the steward ‘the master of ceremonies.’ He was there to see that things ran smoothly. He tells the

and status as a patron of the arts. The name ‘lover of God’ might be applied to every open-hearted reader of the Gospel, as we try to grasp the story Luke relates.

Luke now jumps to a story about the adult Jesus and his first sermon in his home town. The second part will be told next Sunday. It takes place in the synagogue during the Sabbath worship service. The highpoint of the service was the reading from the Law or Torah, followed by a shorter reading from one of the prophetic books.

Being invited to read in a synagogue was a special honour. It’s a mark of the respect in which Jesus was held that he was called to do the last reading. The congregation was probably expecting a sermon from this local boy in whose fame family and neighbours basked. When he stands up, Jesus doesn’t read the chosen lesson for the day but two sections from the prophet Isaiah. It speaks about a mysterious figure who has been empowered by the Spirit “to bring Good News to the poor,” to proclaim liberty to captives, restoration of sight to the blind and a year of God’s favour. Many Jews at the time of Jesus took this person to be the Messiah, a Hebrew word meaning ‘anointed.’ younger servant to serve the good wine first and then you can get away with the cheaper sort after the guests have had a few glasses as they won’t notice the difference. What’s different about this wine is that it’s the very best sort.

This kind of miracle story could be described as a gift miracle. For Jews, a marriage feast was one of the great signs of the Kingdom of God. God would never be tight at the wedding feast of the kingdom. The jars could hold between 120 and 180 gallons; that means between 500 and 800 litres of wine. The sheer abundance and quality of the gift is what counts here. It is a moment of revelation in which Jesus lets his glory as God’s Son shine through at a village wedding.

Today’s Readings

Is 62:1-5; Ps 95; 1 Cor 12:4-11; Jn 2:1-11

The year of God’s favour was probably the jubilee year that took place every 49 years. According to Jewish law, this was a kind of Sabbath that lasted for 12 whole months rather than a single day. The land was rested, as no new crops were planted or harvested. Debts were cancelled and people who had been forced to sell their land because of debt were entitled to reclaim it. The reading and the sermon that follows should be seen as Jesus’ ‘inaugural address’ as Messiah.

Jesus’ choice of the words of Isaiah is a call to hope. He is inaugurating a new “year of favour,” especially for the poor. The promises of the ancient prophet will be fulfilled as Jesus puts new heart into people and gives them new sight. When he has finished, Jesus sits down, adopting the position of a teacher. The congregation is in expectant mood as they gaze on him.

Today’s Readings

Ne 8:2-6.8-10; Ps 18; 1 Cor 12:12-30; Lk 1:1-4.4:14-21

JANUARY 30 FOURTH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME

UNCOMFORTABLE TRUTHS

In his preaching and teaching, Jesus makes it clear that if we are to belong to him we must treat everyone with compassion and mercy. Indeed, given the clarity of Jesus’ teaching, one would expect compassion and mercy to be the distinguishing characteristics of every Christian. Unfortunately, we know that’s not true. The Jewish people of Jesus’ time were not the only ones to neglect this teaching. Modern Christians neglect it too. Ask a Traveller, a refugee, a homeless person or any excluded member of our society, and they will tell you they are not always received with the compassion and mercy the Gospel demands.

In Shakespeare’s play The Merchant of Venice, Shylock asks why a Christian can mock and exclude a Jew like him. He protests that Jews are not too different from Christians: “Hath not a Jew eyes? Hath not a Jew hands, organs, dimensions, senses, affections, passions? Fed with the same food, hurt with the same weapons? Subject to the same diseases, healed by the same means, warmed and cooled by the same winter and summer, as a Christian is?”

That’s the message Jesus constantly hammers home. It’s about being a neighbour to all without exclusion. He reminds us that as Christians we can never be rugged individuals. If we do not care for our neighbour, if we live for ourselves without heed to others, then we are living a life cut off from God.

Copyright © Muhammad Muzamil

Today’s Readings

SOLUTIONS CROSSWORD No. 8 ACROSS: Across: 1. Ethics, 5. Wasabi, 10. Rambler, 11. Sabbath, 12. Avon, 13. Demon, 15. Ulna, 17. Kim, 19. Zealot, 21. Invest, 22. Wedlock, 23. Patina, 25. Elated, 28. Die, 30. Nuns, 31. Padre, 32. Slab, 35. Mislead, 36. Scribes, 37. Baffle, 38. Decoys. DOWN: 2. ombola, 3. Idle, 4. Shriek, 5. Wisdom, 6. Sobs, 7. Braille, 8. Ersatz, 9. Thwart, 14. Mislaid, 16. Towns, 18. Ankle, 20. Tea, 21. Ice, 23. Panama, 24. Tunisia, 26. Tallboy, 27. Debase, 28. Dawdle, 29. Erased, 33. Leaf, 34. Croc. Winner of Crossword No. 8 Maureen Kane, Castleisland, County Kerry.

ACROSS

1. The setting for "Romeo and Juliet". (6) 5. Biblical prophet who did not die but was taken by God. (6) 10. Place of unquenchable fire in the Bible (7) 11. Pronounces words in a religious rite to invoke divine favour. (7) 12. Very inquisitive. (4) 13. These animals run wild in Pamplona. (5) 15. A member of a South American empire before the Spanish conquest. (4) 17. Son of the Bible's strongman. (3) 19. Birthplace of St. Francis. (6) 21. Uttered a long mournful cry. (6) 22. Deities in human form, computer characters. (7) 23. Irish city of the Tribes. (6) 25. A form of the Hebrew name of God used in the Bible. (6) 28. Part of a circle. (3) 30. Tool similar to an axe used for shaping wood. (4) 31. Virgin martyr, patron saint of girls and chastity. (5) 32. Someone who doesn't tell the truth. (4) 35. A person who serves in a coffee bar. (7) 36. People who are pre-occupied with their own interests. (7) 37. Travel with someone to protect or guide them. (6) 38. Desires something very much, especially something difficult or impossible to obtain. (6)

DOWN

2. Ancient Turkish city where St. Paul lived and preached. (7) 3. Possesses. (4) 4. Early counter. (6) 5. Preserve a corpse from decay. (6) 6. Type of wild goat. (4) 7. English football team and weapons store. (7) 8. Landlocked African country. (6) 9. A piece of land surrounded by water. (6) 14. Boxed light. (7) 16. Only son of Abraham, and father of Esau and Jacob. (5) 18. Relating to the nose. (5) 20. Evergreen climber. (3) 21. Using a dry, especially mocking, humour. (3) 23. Having or showing a selfish desire for something; greedy. (6) 24. Jesus brought him back to life. (7) 26. The seventh Sunday after Easter. (7) 27. Belief contrary to Christian doctrine. (6) 28. Filled with horror or shock. (6) 29. Vegetable which allegedly burns more calories than it provides. (6) 33. The capital of Norway. (4) 34. A prolonged state of deep unconsciousness. (4)

Entry Form for Crossword No.10, December 2021

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