COMPASSIONATE AS THE FATHER
By Br. Chidi JohnBosco, OCD
1 Samuel 26:2-23; Psalm 103(102): 1-4, 8,10,12-13; 1 Corinthians 15:45-49; Luke 6:27-38
7th Sunday Ordinary Time, Year C
23rd February 2025
The readings for today have answered the frequently asked questions about “To whom am I to model my life?” Or as some others would ask, “What’s the best way to model my life?” Both questions are geared towards finding a better way to approach life. However, there is something more eternally rewarding that the readings offer. In the first reading, David says, “The Lord repays everyone for his uprightness and loyalty”; in the second reading, Paul tells us that if we model our lives to Christ, we will be like Him and become a life-giving spirit. In the gospel, Christ says we will have a great reward as sons and daughters of the Most High. The question is: How might we inherit these rewards?
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BEATITUDES: A PORTRAIT OF ABUNDANCE
By Dr. Heather Wards, OCDS
Jeremiah 17:5-8; Psalm 1:1-6, 40(39):5; 1 Corinthians 15:12, 16-20; Luke 6:17, 20-26
6th Sunday in Ordinary Time
Sunday 16th February 2025
I think it’s possible to read the beatitudes in Luke’s gospel as a summary of a central aspect of Old Testament faith and of the major prophets. Indeed, read in the light of Isaiah and Jeremiah we can more readily appreciate their eschatological dimension as well as their challenge to us.
In Old Testament terms, what makes the hungry and poor blessed? They are those who have not forgotten God and the need of salvation, they haven’t filled themselves with riches of any kind. This is the message of Deuteronomy chapter 32, verses10 to 18. God was with Israel in the desert and satisfied their needs in abundance. The same theme is found in Isaiah chapter 51: 1,7-8. It is those who are not filled but “look to the rock from which you were hewn” who are open to the message of deliverance; “fear not the reproach of men, and be not dismayed at their reviling.
IN LETTING GOD, LET DOWN YOUR NETS
By Dr. Heather Wards, OCDS
Isaiah 6:1-8; Psalm 138 (137):1-5; 1 Corinthians 15:1-11; Luke 5:1-11
5th Sunday in Ordinary Time
Sunday 9th February 2025
If we read today’s gospel in the light of our first reading I think we are invited to consider the nature of the holiness that is required of Isaiah and Peter. What might be said to be the prerequisites? Is there any message here about the kind of prayer associated with such holiness? Both Isaiah and Peter had an experience of God as the Holy One; meeting him reveals to them their own unlikeness to him and their own sinfulness is exposed. However, although Peter sees his unworthiness we can see in his response two positive, interlinked attitudes, of obedience and of faith. Peter is a skilled and experienced fisherman.
CONSECRATION TO THE ALL OR NOTHING
By Fr. Clement Obiorah, OCD
Malachi 3:1-4; Psalm 24 (23):7-10; Hebrews 2:14-18; Luke 2:22-23
Feast of the Presentation
Sunday 2nd February 2025
The Feast of the Presentation of the Child Jesus in the Temple represents the fulfilment of Old Testament prophecies, highlighting the Lord’s intention to cleanse His temple and renew the locale of worship in His body. Of this coming, Malachi in our first reading, prophesied the purging of the sons of Levi who in their irreverence and abuses failed to recognise the Lord in their consecration to him.