January 2017

IV Sunday in Ordinary Time (“A”) – January 29, 2017

From the Pastor /

The Gospel gives a summary of Jesus’ activity. He preaches in synagogues, He heals sick people; this does begin to sound like Good News for those involved. Today’s passage consists of the most familiar of all Gospel text, covering a surprising range from ordinary Sundays and weekdays to major seasons, from funerals to weddings, and on a variety of commemorations, sacramental ceremonies and saints’ days. The one who proclaims the Good News assumes the guise of an authoritative teacher. In New Testament times, teachers simply sat down in an open space and began to teach. In the Beatitudes, Jesus makes plain what the Good News consists of: it is the possession of the list: the kingdom of heaven.

The Good news is that the kingdom of God is at hand. Jesus turned word into action when He cured sick people, cleansed lepers, forgave sinners; that is when He made the words of Beatitudes a concrete reality for those whose lives were broken. In Jesus’ final sermon in Matthew, in the last judgment parable, He tells His followers that whatever they behaved towards the least of His brothers and sisters is the way they behaved to Christ himself.

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III Sunday in Ordinary Time (“A”) – January 22, 2017

From the Pastor /

Everything that the Lord does has relevance for our salvation. The very act of casting nets and gathering in speaks of the role of the apostle. Our Lord is also sanctifying the work of the disciples, and, on a practical level, He is choosing men who were physically tough, used to dealing with sudden storms on the Sea of Galilee.

Whatever our line of work, whatever our skills we have, whatever talents we have, we can recognize them, first of all, as gifts of God. These are, at the same time, our own works and our own gifts and talents.

When we see Jesus choosing the humble Galilean fishermen, and the despised tax collector Matthew, we can be encouraged that all of us have a part to play in building up the kingdom of God. God loves everything God has created, and holds it lovingly in being. God also gives the great privilege of sharing in God’s own redeeming power.

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II Sunday in Ordinary Time (“A”) – January 15, 2017

From the Pastor /

The baptism of Jesus in the River Jordan, which John the Baptist speaks of to his followers in today’s Gospel, was a moment when the world was changed for ever. Elsewhere the Gospels tell us that John the Baptist didn’t think it was necessary – or even appropriate – for him to baptize Jesus, who was more powerful than himself. John’s baptism required confession of sins and Jesus was without sin. Jesus was baptized in solidarity with the people, taking on the life of the people for the purpose of redemption.

As followers of Christ we share in the baptism of Jesus, the ministry of Christ, the death and the resurrection of Christ. That means that, just as God said to Jesus, “You are my beloved,” God says to each one of us, “You are my beloved.” This is amazing. God loves us and affirms us. God has chosen us too. What does all this mean for the world? God loves each one of us personally, individually and globally with an unconditional love. So if each one of us is a beloved son or daughter of God, like Jesus, that means each one of us is the beloved brother and sister of all God’s children, which means every human being on the planet is our beloved sister or brother, whether a child playing somewhere in China, or a woman making breakfast in Brazil, or a goat herder in the Sudan, or a family in the Philippines, or children in Iraq. Everyone is our sister or brother, so we are called never to hurt anyone. We are God’s beloved, so like Jesus, we are called to treat one another as God’s beloved. Life is good and precious and wonderful, so why waste it on negativity, resentment and cruelty?

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Baptism of the Lord (“A”) – January 8, 2017

From the Pastor /

Baptism leaves no visible marks. It is impossible to tell if someone has been baptized, just by looking at that person. This makes baptism a social sacrament. To be baptized and to keep our memory of baptism alive, we are called to keep the life of the Church alive in us. We keep records of baptism, in books and on certificates, but it is more important to be living the life of a baptized person. We are called to make our baptism visible not just to other people but to ourselves, by the way we live our life. After His baptism, Jesus went off to pray alone in the desert, but this was to prepare for the life lived for others, which He was now to begin. The temptations that He was to endure from Satan show this, as they are temptations to force the kingdom of God on humanity by power. Instead Christ calls each human being to an intimate sharing with Him in His work of redemption. How do we answer that call?

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Circumcision of the Lord (“A”) – January 1, 2017

From the Pastor /

“The feast of the Circumcision of Christ commemorates the Holy Family’s fulfillment of Leviticus, which required a male child to be circumcised on the 8th day after his birth.

The symbolic significance of circumcision as a sign of the Old Covenant seems to be two-fold. First, it required the shedding of blood, which reminded Israel that sacrifice was required to fulfill the covenant. Second, it marked the organ of reproduction, which reminded Israel that the covenant was with Abraham and his “seed.”

The point of circumcision was to mark off the male children until the arrival of the one particular child who would fulfill the covenant.

Baptism is the sign of the New Covenant that replaced circumcision. Circumcision was an external sign. Baptism points to an inward renewal. This is the main distinction between the Old Covenant and the New. The Law of Moses was written on tablets of stone. Through the Holy Spirit, the Law is now written on our hearts. This fulfills the prophecy of Deuteronomy, which said, “The Lord your God will circumcise your heart and the heart of your descendants, to love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul, that you may live”.

The day of circumcision was also when the Jewish people named their children. Our Lord is named “Jesus,” which means, “God saves.” Baptism is when we “Name this child”. Christians typically name their children in advance of baptism. The significance of naming in baptism is not the meaning of the name. Rather, the Christian name is the name by which God knows us, since we become His adopted children in baptism.

This all gives us some perspective with which to approach the New Year. Today is, after all, also New Year’s Day. In the light of the truth that Jesus has fulfilled the Law for us and that we are sons of God and heirs of the covenant promises through baptism and faith, we ought to resist the temptation to approach the New Year the way the world does, with the pattern of bold resolution destined for failure.

Part of our inheritance “in Christ” is freedom from captivity to the pattern of behavior that characterizes the world. Life in Christ begins with success. God makes us His children by grace. He forgives us and accepts us as we are. Then, by grace, God begins to do His will in our lives.

Christ has come. He has fulfilled the Old Covenant. God’s gift to us, given in baptism and received through faith, is that we are now the sons of God of and heirs of all His covenant promises. Thus, for the New Year, resolve, as the epistle says, to “Work out your own salvation with fear and trembling; for it is God who works in you both to will and to do for his good pleasure” (Philippians 2:12-13).”

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