(EPISODE: 346)
Readings for Sunday, January 23, 2022 - Third Sunday in Ordinary Time. Year C
FIRST READING: Neh 8:1-4a, 5-6, 8-10 ++
Psalm 19:7, 8, 9, 14. "Your Words, Lord, are Spirit and life"
SECOND READING: 1 Corinthians 12:12-30 or 12:12-14, 27
GOSPEL ACCLAMATION (Luke 4:18cd). Alleluia, alleluia! The Lord has sent me to bring Good News to the poor and freedom to prisoners.
GOSPEL: Luke 1:1-4; 4:14-21
Image Credit: Shutterstock Licensed. ID: 2096412949 - Nazareth, Israel - December 24, 2021: The interior of Synagogue Church. In Nazareth, Israel – Contributor: RnDmS
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Please listen to the audio recordings of the Mass – (Readings, prayers and homily), for Third Sunday in Ordinary Time. Year C - Sunday, January 23, 2022, by clicking this link here: https://soundcloud.com/user-633212303/faith-hope-and-love-third-sunday-of-ordinary-time-year-c-safety-edit-copy-episode-346?si=26fb5114a8854657b6740d59be25d7e2&utm_source=clipboard&utm_medium=text&utm_campaign=social_sharing (EPISODE: 346)
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*Prologue (Fr Paul Kelly)
In the wonderful First reading, we see an ancient example of the people of God gathering to listen to God's word and give praise and worship to the Lord. This pattern all these many centuries later is still familiar. God's people, including us today, gather to listen to God's word and appreciate the meaning of it for our lives here and now, and it touches our hearts and minds and deepens our dedication to the Lord. Sometimes God's word challenges us and cuts us to the heart, as it reveals our areas for growth, and at other times, it encourages and nurtures us. But it never fails to be a source of grace and life for all who receive the Word.
May we always open our hearts and minds to God's word... Cherishing it, being moved by it.... treasuring it and living it...
And what a beautiful second reading! Saint Paul once again gives us a superb image - Just as the body has many parts but it is still one body.... so, we, God's people, are invited to remember the unity we have with one another... the shared sense of purpose and the lived reality that our good is tied to the good of all people.
We each have gifts... but these gifts are "given to share" with each other, ... so we really need to help and support each other... especially those most in need....
Saint Luke wrote his version of the gospel (which we hear today and through most of this year), and he says he did this to provide an orderly account of things relating to Jesus. (Luke also wrote the "Acts of the Apostles"... clearly addressing (at the start of both books) to the same person named "your Excellency Theophilus" - (a name that means lover of God") - who was obviously a Gentile believer; with a high rank and status in society... This gospel particularly speaks to influential and powerful Gentiles, who are trying to work out what Jesus' asks of them and what God's core values are. And Luke's writing is inviting and challenging in equal measure.
And at the very start of Our Lord's ministry, God's ancient words are announced as being fulfilled "right here and right now, as you listen.." - In this extraordinary speech at the synagogue of his own home town Jesus, spells out the "blueprint for his ministry" – (an incredibly generous and compassionate ministry at that), ….,
It is a stunning declaration of the dawning of a new era of God's favour, kindness, and grace….. Where all the hopes and dreams of the poor and the needy have been noticed by God and committed to God's care. God really cares a lot, about how badly people are faring and God means to do something about it through Jesus and his followers. God wants people to see their destiny as bound-up with the worries of others too. And use their gifts and influence to make a difference, not just for ourselves or our families and friends, but for the good of all people - whom we united to, through God.
Jesus' home town of Nazareth, was a very, very important location….. It was a city of some 20,000 people. And so, Jesus' speech at Nazareth, a town in Galilee – (Galilee means 'circle of the nations – probably because of the large number of people from other nations who settled there), is timely and perfectly-placed. At the crossroads of the nations, God has intervened in our history… and has come to give us news… and thank goodness; it is very good news indeed ……for the poor and the needy.(1)
"The poor" are all of us, in one way or another)… Many of us are captive to one thing or another in our lives…… we all desperately need the news Jesus has to give us… so this news from Jesus is for all of us. And for everyone… // And we take heart that Jesus has us in mind when he begins his mission to save and help people in need… and free us from whatever imprisons and impoverishes us all…
The first step seems to be 'freedom' – To be Free from anything that stops us being the loving people God calls us to be…. / Free to respond compassionately and justly to those in need….. // Free from wasting our time and energy on that which does not last.
Jesus words are not merely 'talk' - He sets about immediately doing what he has just announced to the people. Involving himself fully in the lives of those who are suffering and who feel lost.
Let us, as one body in Christ, recognise that we are all in this together.... It is not "them or us" or "every person for themselves"…. It is "us, gathered and united by Christ," to be open to/. cooperate with/ and trust in our Lord, who is good news in everything he says and does//.. in fact, he is the very best news we will ever hear….
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Homily (Fr Peter Dillon)
HOMILY – 3RD SUNDAY ORDINARY TIME YEAR C 2022
Returning to your hometown after a long absence can be a confronting exercise.
Will we recognise people and houses, will we be remembered and will we be able to capture the same feelings we once experienced in this place of security? Will I be a stranger in a place I used to call home? What we usually find that although there has been change, we too have changed and we need to balance our understanding with what was and what is.
This is the kind of introduction Luke gives us in today's gospel. Here is someone who has gone from his hometown for a while and is now returning for a visit. There are some who will remember him as a little child, others who knew his father and mother and there will be others who will look at him with curiosity and suspicion. He is not just any man returning home because his reputation has preceded him, he is something of a minor celebrity. Will he be as wise as they have heard or will he try to convince them to change their comfortable ways?
As expected he goes to the synagogue, where he had sat as a young boy, and is handed to scroll of the prophet Isaiah where he reads the famous lines that "the spirit of the Lord is upon me and he sent me to bring good news". He then sat down as a sign that an important teaching was to follow.
And then he tells them something that startles them and gives them cause for great concern. "Today this scripture is being fulfilled in your hearing". Surely he can't be suggesting that he is the fulfilment of the prophecy of Isaiah. They had been looking so far into the future for their Messiah that they were unable to accept that the time had come. He was there with them. Naturally this was too hard to believe until he was able to accompany his prophetic words with outstanding signs. But for the present they were wary and reserved.
The word that got to them was "today" because they had been trained to look to the future for salvation. He makes no long-range forecast, no promise that things will be different in the future. Rather, he claims the power to transform the present. There are no good times coming, they are here now and the kingdom of God is among you, he declares. Luke is emphatic that Jesus underscores this in almost all the things he says. Today is what counts. Today grace abounds. Today the kingdom will be realised. Today God is revealed behind every episode in your life.
It was for this very reason that this gospel challenged the people of his hometown and it challenges us to live and be open to the life of Christ in the here and now.
So how can we discover this everyday grace? Perhaps we could start by living one day of acceptance. What would it be like if we gave ourselves the opportunity for just one day to concentrate on totally accepting everyone and making no judgments?
Does that sound like too difficult a task or do we no longer notice when we judge others? If we consider it, everything we think and say or do reacts on us like a boomerang. Every judgment, every criticism and attack comes back to us. Equally every act of love and compassion and generosity does the same and comes back to us, sometimes with increase.
Secondly, we should look for the opportunities in today even if it's not quite what we bargained for. Sometimes the problem or intrusion can contain the grace of the day that we weren't expecting. Allow ourselves time to put things in perspective. Did I make the problem bigger than it really was? Did that person take more time than I wanted to give? Was it really a major issue to spend more time than I had planned assisting a person in need?
The fulfilment of God's promise today is the key, so that we will not miss the chance to be part of God's saving action in what we think as the ordinariness if our lives.
A day of acceptance without judgement, a day of opportunity without complaint, a day of perspective without fear, starting - today.
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References:
prologue by Fr Paul W. Kelly
Homily by fr peter Dillon
THE DAILY STUDY BIBLE. GOSPEL OF LUKE. (REVISED EDITION). BY WILLIAM BARCLAY.
SUNDAYS AND HOLY DAY LITURGIES. YEAR C. FLOR MCCARTHY S.D.B.
Abbot's homily. Monastery of Christ in the desert.
(1) 'Galilee of the nations', which refers to gentiles who settled there at the time that the book was written, either by their own volition or as a result of being deported there. From; Room, Adrian (2006). "Place-names of the World: Origins and Meanings of the Names for 6,600 Countries, Cities, Territories, Natural Features, and Historic Sites." (2nd, revised ed.). McFarland. p. 138. ISBN 978-0-7864-2248-7. Retrieved 21 February 2011. Source: Wikipedia on "Galilee"
Image Credit: Shutterstock Licensed. ID: 2096412949 - Nazareth, Israel - December 24, 2021: The interior of Synagogue Church. In Nazareth, Israel – Contributor: RnDmS
Image Credit: A hilltop near Nazareth, Israel. Photograph by Fr Paul W. Kelly).
Third Sunday in Ordinary Time. Year C (Sunday, January 23, 2022) (EPISODE: 346)
Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. (or/ The Lord be with You)
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{{Goodness and kindness to you all}}
Brothers and sisters, as weprepare ourselves to celebrate the Lord,s supper, let us recall our sins and acknowledge them in silence.
I confess to almighty God and to you, my brothers and sisters, that I have greatly sinned, in my thoughts and in my words, in what I have done and in what I have failed to do, through my fault, through my fault,* through my most grievous fault; therefore
May almighty God have mercy on us, forgive us our sins, and bring us to everlasting life. Amen.
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Psalm 19:7, 8, 9, 14. "Your Words Lord are Spirit and life"
GOSPEL ACCLAMATION (Luke 4:18cd). Alleluia, alleluia! The Lord has sent me to bring Good News to the poor and freedom to prisoners.
Memorial Acclamation
3. Save us, Saviour of the world, for by your Cross and Resurrection you have set us free.
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PREFACE: Sundays II
EP III
Communion side. pwk: RH
(theme variation: v1/full )
(pre+post variation: v2-short)
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{I am very grateful for you joining us for this special time of prayer and reflection.}
Go forth, the Mass is ended.
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Archive of homilies and reflections: http://homilycatholic.blogspot.com.au
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To listen to my weekly homily audio podcast, please click this link here.
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Further information relating to the audio productions linked to this Blog:
"Faith, Hope and Love - Christian worship and reflection" - Led by Rev Paul Kelly
Prayers and chants — Roman Missal, 3rd edition, © 2010, The International Commission on English in the liturgy. (ICEL)
Scriptures - New Revised Standard Version: © 1989, and 2009 by the NCC-USA. (National Council of Churches of Christ - USA)
"The Psalms" ©1963, 2009, The Grail - Collins publishers.
Prayers of the Faithful - " Together we pray" by Robert Borg'. E.J. Dwyer, Publishers, (1993) . (Sydney Australia).
Sung "Mass In Honour of St. Ralph Sherwin" - By Jeffrey M. Ostrowski. The Gloria, Copyright © 2011 ccwatershed.org.
- "Faith, Hope and Love" theme hymn - in memory of William John Kelly - Inspired by 1 Corinthians 13:1-13. Music by Paul W. Kelly. Arranged and sung, with additional lyrics by Stefan Kelk. 2019.
"Quiet Time." Instrumental Reflection music. Written by Paul W Kelly. 1988, 2007. & This arrangement: Stefan Kelk, 2020.
- "Today I Arise" - For Trisha J Kelly. Original words and music by Paul W. Kelly. Inspired by St Patrick's Prayer. Arranged and sung, with additional lyrics by Stefan Kelk. 2019.
Sound Engineering and editing - P.W. Kelly.
Microphones: - SHURE MV5-USB
Editing equipment: NCH software - MixPad Multitrack Studio Recording Software
NCH – WavePad Audio Editing Software. Masters Edition v 12.44
Sound Processing: iZotope RX 6 Audio Editor
[Production - KER - 2022]
May God bless and keep you.
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[ Production - KER - 2022]
May God bless and keep you.
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