It’s still months away, but parish ministers, especially if they are involved in the catechumenate, have their eyes on Lent and the Easter Triduum. Until fairly recent times, the last few days before Easter were shaped by an awareness of the Passion, but the faithful were left to their own devices about how to engage with these mysteries. A thousand years ago, the Easter Vigil as a solemn and central moment of initiation had vanished. By the early 1950s it was a minor moment in parish life, celebrated on Holy Saturday morning, usually with only the priests and a handful of invited guests. Most people understood it as necessary only for blessing the paschal candle and preparing the Easter water. People who were children during World War II sometimes remember that the weekly noontime test of the air-raid sirens on Holy Saturday signaled the end of Lent.
Today, of course, we see Holy Saturday as entirely within the paschal fast, and hardly the time for children to be tearing through the plastic grass looking for jelly beans and chocolate eggs. These memories point to a total collapse of the once-central liturgies of the Christian year. This impoverishment of the liturgy was mostly an accident of history. The root cause was the loss of Lent as a time focused on the final formation of catechumens for the Easter sacraments. By 1880, scholars began to piece together a vision of what once had been, and slowly, at first in a handful of monasteries in Europe, pieces of the tradition were rediscovered and celebrated.
While you may have to reach for an atlas to determine that Isaiah is speaking about Galilee, today’s first reading (part of which was read at Christmas) is prophetic of Jesus’ future ministry in that province. The light that brings salvation and rejoicing is, ultimately, Christ. Liberation is the theme: liberation from both ignorance (“darkness”) and sin (the “yoke”).
As Isaiah identifies a place, so Paul describes an attitude: the attitude that develops, even among good people, of equating their own will with the common good. This always brings dissension, and so it has done in Corinth. Paul will not allow this; we are all members of “Christ’s party.” The gospel is not to divide us.
Matthew quotes from Isaiah in today’s Gospel, presenting Jesus as the fulfillment of Isaiah’s prophecies. The theme is “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand” (Matthew 4:17). To spread this message, Jesus begins to select disciples, four of whom we meet today: Peter, Andrew, James, and John.
In prayer it is better to have a heart without words than words without a heart.
John Bunyan
Better to be kind at home than to burn incense in a distant place.
Chinese proverb
SUNDAY, JANUARY 27, 2008
THIRD SUNDAY IN ORDINARY
Lessons for life
Why is it that we can remember by name just about every teacher we had from first grade until at least eighth grade, if not high school and beyond? Teachers have an impact on our lives that is hard to quantify but is nevertheless enormous. They serve as role models and inspirations for some of the many ways it is possible to grow up and make a contribution to the world. We owe our best teachers our unending thanks—and we give it to them when we make our own best contributions to the world.
TODAY'S READINGS: Isaiah 8:23-9:3; 1 Corinthians 1:10-13, 17; Matthew 4:12-23
"Jesus went throughout Galilee, teaching in their synagogues and proclaiming the good news."
EN ESPAÑOL
DOMINGO, 27 DE ENERO DE 2008
Lecciones para la vida
¿Cómo es que podemos recordar por nombre a casi cada maestro que tuvimos desde el primer al octavo grado, si no la secundaria y más? Los maestros tienen un impacto en nuestras vidas que es difícil de cuantificar pero es enorme. Ellos sirven como modelos a seguir e inspiraciones para algunas de las muchas maneras en que es posible crecer y hacer una contribución al mundo. Debemos a nuestros mejores maestros nuestras gracias infinitas—y se las damos cuando hacemos nuestras mejores contribuciones al mundo.
LECTURAS DE HOY: Isaías 8:23-9:3; 1 Corintios 1:10-13, 17; Mateo 4:12-23
"Jesús pasó por Galilea, enseñando en sus sinagogas y proclamando las buenas nuevas."
MONDAY, JANUARY 28
FEAST OF THOMAS AQUINAS, PRIEST, DOCTOR
Look to the light
Those who look for demons in everyone are probably contending with a few of their own. Others are more focused on seeking goodness and truth wherever it appears. Thomas Aquinas (1225-1274), by all accounts one of the geniuses of Christian tradition, had more to say of angels than of devils. “God is [our] universal teacher and guardian,” he wrote. “But his teaching to [us] is mediated by angels.” Consider the “angels” in your life who have mediated wisdom to you by their loving presence, words, and example. How can you be an “angel” for someone who looks up to you?
TODAY’S READINGS: 2 Samuel 5:1-7, 10; Mark 3:22-30
"The scribes said of Jesus, 'By the ruler of the demons he casts out demons.' "
TUESDAY, JANUARY 29
Was Jesus a family man?
Those who espouse “family values” might squirm a bit at the passages in the gospel where Jesus seems to be showing a bit of disrespect to his own family. Jesus is teaching us here that our loyalties and obligations go beyond our families of origin. As Christians, we belong to a larger family with larger responsibilities—to listen to the words of Jesus and to seek the will of God. Jesus redefines family, not with the intention of excluding anyone, but rather to invite everyone to a join a greater family with a greater vision of family values.
TODAY’S READINGS: 2 Samuel 6:12b-15, 17-19; Mark 3:31-35
"Jesus said, 'Whoever does the will of God is my brother and sister and mother.' "
WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 30
Bless my soil
You can’t always take parables in the gospels on face value. They do not always mean what they seem to be saying—which is why it helps to have a good study Bible or scripture commentary at hand when you break open a Bible. But every now and then the gospel writers have Jesus explain exactly what he meant. Such is the case with the parable of the seeds and the soil. What to make of the birds eating some seeds while others whither or were choked by weeds? Easy: The seed is the Word of God. From some it is taken. Others show some initial enthusiasm but go on to something else after a time. Still others turn away when trouble strikes or let worldly concerns distract them. But who is the rich soil? The ones who hear the Word and accept it. Where does the seed of God’s Word fall in your life?
TODAY’S READINGS: 2 Samuel 7:4-17; Mark 4:1-20
"And these are the ones sown on the good soil: They hear the Word and accept it and bear fruit."
THURSDAY, JANUARY 31
Don’t just sit there
Many people it seems are locked into the understanding of their faith they had when they were children, or the one they get from the tiny pieces of scripture they hear in the Sunday readings or Father’s homily or elsewhere in the liturgy. To those in that situation, Jesus has a message: To really understand and be able to share his message, ponder it and grow in understanding of it or you’ll lose what you have. The greater your knowledge of faith, the deeper it will be.
TODAY’S READINGS: 2 Samuel 7:18-19, 24-29; Mark 4:21-25
"Pay attention to what you hear; the measure you give will be the measure you get, and still more will be given you."
FRIDAY , FEBRUARY 1
One sin does not deserve another
Among the many vivid stories in the Old Testament is the one of King David, the woman Bathsheba, and her husband Uriah. While Uriah was away fighting one of David’s wars, the king had an adulterous liaison with Bathsheba, who became pregnant. Instead of taking responsibility, David tried to have Uriah killed, eventually succeeding by ordering him placed in the most dangerous part of the battle line—going to a murderous extreme to avoid facing up to what he did. How often do we, like David, attempt to cover one sin with another, instead of moving from sin to the grace of repentance and forgiveness?
TODAY’S READINGS: 2 Samuel 11:1-4a, 5-10a, 13-17; Mark 4:26-34
"Set Uriah in the forefront of the hardest fighting, and then draw back from him, so that he may be struck down and die."
SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 2
FEAST OF THE PRESENTATION OF THE LORD
Temple time
After a while Mary and Joseph probably got the idea they never knew what was going to happen when Jesus went to the temple. When, as faithful Jews, they presented him there, they encountered two elderly holy folks who let them know that the boy was the messiah they and the people had been waiting for. Then on a future Passover trip they discovered their precocious child had stayed behind in the temple and was dialoguing with an amazed group of teachers. Later in his life some pretty big things happen when Jesus goes to the temple, and the disciples gather there after his resurrection. What happens when you encounter Christ in the temple?
TODAY’S READINGS: Malachi 3:1-4; Hebrews 2:14-18; Luke 2:22-40
"And the Lord whom you seek will suddenly come to his temple."
Contributors: Father Paul Boudreau, Alice Camille, Daniel Grippo, Father Larry Janowski, Ann O'Connor, Sean Reynolds, Joel Schorn, and Patrice J. Tuohy
©2008 by TrueQuest Communications, L.L.C. PHONE: 800-942-2811; E-MAIL: mail@takefiveforfaith.com; WEBSITE: www.takefiveforfaith.com. Licensed for noncommercial use. All rights reserved. Scripture quotes come from the New Revised Standard Version of the Bible.
