1 Tim 3:1ff. The qualities of bishop, deacon and deaconess – hospitable, respected, truthful, good managers.
Lk 7:11ff. Jesus raises to life the dead son of a widow at Naim. The people respond with awe.
If we read today’s scriptural selection in reverse, beginning with the Gospel, and then First Timothy, we detect stages of development in church leadership. In the Gospel, at the sight of
1 Tim 2:1ff. Prayers for the civil authorities that life may be peaceful, since God desires the good of all.
Lk 7:1ff. The Roman centurion has greater faith than all Israel and receives from Jesus the cure of his servant.
Different sides of the Church’s mission are seen in today’s texts.
It is false to celebrate our God as the Lord of compassion and love, unless we show mercy to those who have wronged us. Today’s Gospel calls us to forgive others as Christ forgives us. Some of the finer minds among the Old Testament writers already perceived this connection:
The anniversary of the attack on New York falls on a Sunday this year —and it coincides with Mass readings that focus on forgiveness as a Christian virtue. In the liturgy this Sunday, those who gather for worship will celebrate God’s mercy, and ask for the grace to pass it on to those who cause hurt.
1 Tim 1:15ff. Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners. Anyone – even Paul – can have the grace of conversion.
Lk 6:43ff. The house of faith built securely on rock, survives the flood.
A centre for our meditation today is how Jesus Christ displays his infinite patience .
A centre for our meditation today is how Jesus Christ displays his infinite patience . Patience is the virtue of that person who has built on rock. When evil times hit, when the heavens pour down uncontrollable floods, that house remains standing if it is built with deep foundations in the rocky subterrain.
The readings centre mostly on leadership but their application reaches out to all human relationships. Very positively too we are asked to interact with one another, not so much as superior to inferior but as recognizing the unique gift of each person. It is because of diversity of strength and grace that problems arise and helpful direction is necessary.
The readings centre mostly on leadership but their application reaches out to all human relationships. Very positively too we are asked to interact with one another, not so much as superior to inferior but as recognizing the unique gift of each person. It is because of diversity of strength and grace that problems arise and helpful direction is necessary.
It is not certain exactly when or where Our Lady was born; but it was most likely about sixteen years before the birth of Jesus, and in Nazareth, where St Luke’s Gospel locates her, as she received God’s message from the angel. It was only after the Council of Ephesus in 431 – when Mary was designated as “Theotokos” (“Mother of God”) – that devotion to her spread far and wide in the Western Church. But well before that time, the exceptional circumstances of her birth were remembered and celebrated among the Christians of Palestine.
Col 3: :1-11.You have been raised from the dead with Christ. So set your heart where Christ is, at God’s right hand, and not on evil deeds.
Luke 6: 20-26. The Beatitudes, spoken on the plain to a large crowd.
We have here no lasting city. The seriousness of Luke’s Beatitudes becomes more apparent as we compare them with Matthew’s which are
We note a dramatic transition from death to life in Colossians, from public wrangling to a new life in Jesus and the Spirit in 1 Corinthians(*2); and in the Gospel from night-time to a new dawn. Night is the time of death and contention, as well as of rebirth and new awareness. At night we can lose our
We may have a moral obligation to correct blatant wrongdoing, whether in the family, the workplace or the wider society. But it is incumbent on parents, and all who have others in their care, to administer such correction with love and respect. The old dictum, that one should “hate the sin but love the sinner” is a good guideline in many situations, as is St Paul’s principle: “Owe no one anything, except to love one another.”
Catholics gather for Sunday Mass as God’s family, concerned for each other, supporting one another in sadness and joy. The challenge of living as part of the Christian family is laid out in this Sunday’s readings.
