The 5th Sunday of Ordinary Time
Background: The Sermon on the Mount continues; we are once again being taught the basics of life in God’s kingdom/reign. And they are not about kosher ordinances or other do’s and don’t’s but about love in action—which is why this selection from Isaiah was chosen to parallel this Gospel. And the power to live such transformed lives that bear witness to the kingdom present among us comes, as Paul says, “from the convincing power of the Spirit.”
- When has your loving concern for others made you a light to others?
- When has the Spirit’s power at work within you made you able to do more than you thought you could?
- When has your light not shown brightly for others? Why not? How can you shine more brightly?
- What does our church need to do to be a brighter light in our fractured society?
Practice: A lot of us look out our windows and do not see the hungry, the oppressed, the homeless, but they are out there! And the scripture tells us to go out and find them. What will get you, and your family, out of your bubble? Where can you find the opportunity to be an active disciple, serving others less fortunate?
The 6th Sunday of Ordinary Time
Background: Here, in the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus is portrayed clearly as the new Moses, bringing a new Torah, a new Law. Yet it is not a new list of do’s and don’t’s but a call to a “holiness that surpasses that of the scribes and Pharisees” because the old Law is fulfilled in our lives of love—lives lived in the power of the Spirit.
- How often have you felt proud of yourself because you had been a good little boy/girl and lived up to all the rules?
- When has your self-righteousness made you blind to the needs of others?
- When have you felt the power of the Spirit calling you to go further and to love in a deeper way?
- In what concrete ways could you help not only your home or your workplace but our larger society a better place through your life of love in action?
Practice: Each day this week take a paragraph from this Sunday’s gospel, read it, ponder it, pray over it, and ask yourself how Jesus is calling you right now to change that part of your life.
The power to live such transformed lives that bear witness to the kingdom present among us comes, as Paul says, “from the convincing power of the Spirit.”
The 7th Sunday of Ordinary Time
Background: Once more Jesus teaches us how his new Law of love goes beyond the old Law of rules and commandments. The command to love our neighbors was part of the Mosaic Law; the difference is that now we are called to live not only by our own efforts but in “the convincing power of the Spirit.”
- When have others treated you unjustly or disrespectfully? How did you respond?
- When have you treated others unjustly or disrespectfully? Why?
- Jesus suggests other courses of action that are perhaps challenging but are what is expected of those who live in God’s kingdom/reign. Which part of his advice is directly addressed to you?
- Which people in our church or society are stereotyped as unworthy of respect, as throw-away people? What could your parish community do to make a sense of respect for everyone part of your parish culture?
Practice: Whom do you need to ask for forgiveness? Although the relationship may not be broken, how can you seek healing? Remember: we ask for forgiveness, humbly and politely; and, if we receive it, it is a gift. Do so as soon as possible, for everyone’s sake.
Lent
The 1st Sunday of Lent
Background: To understand this Sunday’s gospel, we need to realize that we are jumping back over the unfolding of Jesus’s Sermon on the Mount that we have been reading in the early Sundays of Ordinary Time and returning to his baptism in the Jordan. Having received the overwhelming awareness that he was God’s beloved Son/Servant, he needs to ponder the implications of that calling. And so, he heads out into the desert to pray and there is tested/tempted. What does this mission involve; and, perhaps more importantly, what does it not?
The first two readings situate the mission of Jesus within the context of sinful humanity: we cannot save ourselves since we are too weak to keep God’s commandments. Only God’s free gift of “overflowing grace” in Jesus can refashion us into the people whom God meant us to be.
And so, this is the day when the catechumens publicly state their desire make the promises of baptism, to be reborn by water and the Spirit, and to share in the Eucharist. Hence the references to Noah’s deliverance from the waters of the Flood. Yet it is also the day when the candidates express their desire to be received by renewing their baptismal promises before being sealed with the Spirit and sharing the Eucharist. As we the faithful accompany them on their Lenten journey to initiation, we must join them in that renewal since on Easter we too will be asked to reaffirm our baptism by renouncing sin and professing faith.
- How is broken within you that you deeply yearn to be healed and made whole?
- How are you tempted to rely on your own power and not on God’s grace?
- Which person in your life has most frequently shown you the power of God’s grace at work?
- What messages has our society given you that have made your life unhappy? How can you escape from those messages? How can you help others escape?
Practice: This week ponder the two final petitions of the Lord’s Prayer: Forgive us… and Lead us not…. What do you need to ask God to change in your heart? In your life?
