1. --
Lanie LeBlanc OP
2. --
Carol & Dennis Keller
3. --
Brian Gleeson CP
4. --
Paul O'Reilly SJ
5. --(Your
reflection can be here!)
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1.
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Sun. 3 B
In our readings for this Sunday, Jonah and the
newly-called apostles seem to have no trouble in doing what
the Lord wanted them to do. We know that Jonah had an inner
struggle and an outward detour that preceded his
acquiescence, however. The apostles went along happily it
seems, until the going got tough at the end.
So where are we in our tussle with the Lord's call? Have
we balked at first and then said "yes"? Are we still
ignoring the call? Are we getting tired of following the
Lord and want an easier way out?
The Lord told us that the call is not an easy one, even
if most of us still sorta think it will be once we do say
"yes"! I think that somewhere along the way, at the
beginning, middle or end, the Lord supplies booster shots of
grace. That is a good thing for each of us, for sure.
Our times are not easy. We need many booster shots of
grace it seems, maybe many times a day. Jesus knew that
himself. Right after grieving about the death of John the
Baptist, he called on his reservoir grace to begin calling
more of his followers. He got to work living out his own
call.
Some of the inauguration events that we witnessed in the
US this past week seem to be God's booster shots of grace
and healing to a very weary people in a divided nation. I
felt calmed. I still feel more hopeful for my country and
the major challenges we have still to face. (If you haven't
watched Amanda Gorman's deliver "The Hill We Climb" during
President Biden's inauguration, google it and give yourself
a gift.)
Perhaps tonight, during our prayer time, we might ask for
a personal booster shot of grace and one for world leaders.
That asking is a positive response to the fact that it is
God's initial call, not ours , that gets us moving in the
right direction in the first place. It is our willingness to
follow God's lead that will keep us going to the very end,
no matter the challenges or sadnesses we face each day.
Thanks be to God!
Blessings,
Dr. Lanie
LeBlanc OP
Southern
Dominican Laity
lanie@leblanc.one
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2.
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Third Sunday of Ordered Time January 24 2021
Jonah 3:1-5 & 10; Responsorial Psalm 25; 1st
Corinthians 7:29-31; Gospel Acclamation Mark 1:15; Mark
1:14-20
The book of Jonah is such a mystery. It is not meant as a
history but as a story, a teaching fiction to make a point
about the relationship of God with his creation. The people
of Nineveh and the Jews were not exactly allies! Nineveh was
in the Assyrian empire which laid siege to Jerusalem at one
point in history. For Jonah to accept the call of the Lord
to preach repentance to the enemies of his nation would have
been repulsive. He would have argued with the Lord; "Why
should I go preach repentance to my people’s enemies. It
would serve them right if they were destroyed in the
cruelest fashion." He tries everything to avoid going to do
what God has asked him to do. He is even swallowed by a
whale when he attempts to flee to the ends of the earth. In
the midst of a threatening storm, the sailors decide it is
Jonah who has brought on God’s wrath on their ship. So, they
throw him overboard. A whale picks him up and deposits him
on the shores of Nineveh. For God has influence and power
even over the denizens of the deep. He tries to hide under
bushes. But the sun comes and dries up the bushes and he
finally agrees to go into Nineveh and preach repentance. For
God has influence even over plants and the sun. Much to his
surprise, the people accept his preaching. And even the
ruler hears and repents. The entire nation does penance.
What does this story mean?
After the Babylonian exile, both religious and civic
leaders of the nation believed only they were to be saved by
God’s efforts. This Jonah story insists that God offers
salvation to whom he pleases. The special relationship of
God to Israel was not merely a sign of God’s love for his
people. The nation, the sons of Jacob, were chosen not only
for their benefit, but for the benefit of all creation. The
sign of Jonah is about the will of God that all nations, all
creation be saved from its sinfulness and depravity. The
arrogance of the Pharisees, the Sadducees, and priests
prevented them from accepting their mission of preaching
repentance and God’s call to salvation by all nations. That
is the sign of Jonah, that all nations are God’s darling.
All peoples, all languages, all nations, all races, all
genders are called by God to live their lives fully now in a
life that leads to an ever-greater life after leaving this
world.
In that context, the gospel makes a lot of sense. Jesus
calls fishermen to become the new Jonahs to all the nations.
These fishermen are not leaving their trade to better their
lifestyle. They were leaving a successful fishing business –
note, Mark indicates they were successful enough to have
hired men working for them – and entering a life without
security, without physical accumulations, without
probability of fame. Jesus chose those who would go to all
the nations of the known world to preach repentance from the
ways of the world and entrance into the Kingdom of God. What
Mark’s gospel does for us from this start is indicate the
spread of God’s message of mercy, compassion, and loving
kindness to all the world. Enemies as well as friends are
preached to and encouraged to live the way of the Lord. That
is the way of salvation. Just as the people of Nineveh
responded to Jonah’s reluctant preaching and saved
themselves from destruction, so also all nations will
receive the preaching toward repentance which will lead to
eternal living in the presence of God, the Creator, the
Father of us all.
There is another side to these stories. It is the
selection from Paul’s first letter to the Corinthians in the
early part of his preaching that gives us a sense of our
role. Paul, as so many of early Christians, felt and
believed that Jesus, now the Christ by reason of his
sacrifice and Resurrection, was returning very soon – maybe
tomorrow, maybe the day after. He would come to collect all
those who were living in his way. Paul seems, in the
selection, to downplay marriage. In the light of Jesus
returning tomorrow, that would make a lot of sense. In a
later letter to the Ephesians, Paul writes eloquently about
marriage as the sign of the relationship of Jesus with his
church. The intimacy of marriage is indicative of the
intimacy of Jesus with his Church. And his Church is made up
of all nations, all languages, all traditions, all cultures,
and - most certainly in the greatest challenge of our nation
in this time --- all races and ethnic backgrounds. As God is
our Father, we are made into brothers and sisters to one
another. We are God’s family by the preaching of the
apostles. It is our responsibility to hear and accept the
compassion, mercy, and light of the Messiah and live as
though we are loved by the God who created us and maintains
us in life.
I wonder, in this terrible time of political conflict,
what the difference between those who see our past four
years as a destruction of the basis of freedom for all
citizens and those who see the efforts at authoritarianism
as a positive development of our nation. How can we see so
differently? How is it that family members can overlook
their blood ties and refuse to speak with each other? How is
it that our Church, so singly focused on the moral issue of
abortion, can support an administration that gained power
and influence by dividing the nation? How is it that my
beloved sister and I so totally disagree on the facts as to
avoid any political discussion so as to maintain our loving
relationship?
I think this is a practical experience of how the Word of
God, the Son of God become Man is received. For some there
is an absolute rejection in favor of the Ways of the World.
For some, the compassion, mercy, and unconditional love of
the Creator/Father for each person is a myth created to
control. For others, it’s not about God’s love for us, but
about the rules and regulations, the absolute power of
infallibility of the successor of Peter that is our
salvation. Staying within the lines as we color our lives is
how we’ll be judged. For these, life is about being
controlled. Yet God created man in his own image and
likeness. And that image, that likeness is bursting with
creativity and incomprehensible beauty. If there is doubt
about this, take a few moments to view the world in which we
live, the natural world that contains so much beauty and so
much complexity.
Why is truth so difficult to discern? Why will no amount
of evidence, no matter how many persons with a reputation of
truth testify ever change persons’ minds and – more
importantly – hearts of those who deny what is apparent
truth?
Perhaps the awful answer is what the Hebrew Scriptures
and Paul in Christian Scriptures identify as stiffness of
neck and hardness of heart. Is this why so many hearing the
Word of God deny its value, its effectiveness in leading us
to happiness, its ultimate achievement of everlasting life?
What a tremendous sadness that so many of us pick and choose
bits and pieces and deny the presence of God’s mercy,
compassion, and unconditional love for all his creation? It
is for each of us to examine ourselves in this regard. It
has been revealed to us the Way, the Truth, and the Life of
God’s presence and work among us. We should catch onto this
speeding train and move along in our journey home.
Carol &
Dennis Keller
dkeller002@nc.rr.com
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3.
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CALLED AND SENT: 3RD SUNDAY B
Do you really believe, that Jesus has chosen you to
be his disciple, as well as a missionary and agent of his
love, to others?
In our various communities, we are fortunately not all
the same. We have health workers, lawyers, tradespeople,
teachers, and students. There are those who work more than
one job, and those who simply cannot find work. There are
adults and children, retired and semi-retired persons,
family persons, and single ones. There are those born here
and those born overseas, sick people and healthy, carers and
cared for. There are big-picture persons and those with
attention to detail. There are passive people and there are
active ones. There are those strong on theory and those that
make things happen. There are those who talk a lot, and
those that do a lot. There are those who think a great deal,
and those who cannot concentrate.
For all our differences, there are two things we have in
common, which we treasure. We are human beings together and
we are Christians together. We have been baptized by Jesus
(through his Church) and have become his disciples. Within
our different situations, we keep striving to keep our eyes
fixed on Jesus and to keep walking in his footsteps. What he
has called us to be and to do. become clearer from today’s
gospel story.
Mark relates that as soon as Jesus began his work in
Galilee, he recruited Simon and his brother Andrew, as well
as James and John, the two sons of Zebedee. He chose them to
be his companions and to work with him to make God’s loving
rule happen everywhere, and over everybody and everything.
There and then they left their occupations and their
families to follow Jesus as his disciples, and like him, to
become ‘fishers of people’.
In the gospels, the word ‘disciple’ means ‘learner’. We
note that his followers did not choose Jesus as their
teacher. No, he chose them to learn from him as life-long
learners within an ongoing relationship with him. As they
journeyed with him from place to place, they would
experience his kindness, compassion, and pastoral care,
again and again. towards thousands of people in urgent need
of deliverance from physical, mental, or emotional
illnesses. On their shared journeys, he would tell them his
parables and other very important truths. They were to share
his wisdom, his life-style, his sufferings, and hardships.
Sometimes they, like their Leader, would even find
themselves without a roof over their heads, sleeping rough.
But despite the trust and affection Jesus gives his
disciples, they don’t come through the pages of the gospels
as larger-than-life heroes, who effectively and efficiently
promote and expand the mission of Jesus. We note that his
very first choices are, in fact, a bunch of uneducated
fishermen, and the rest of his eight later choices hardly
stand out as simply the best people for the job. At times
they misunderstand their teacher so badly, that they come
through as dull and stupid - thick as bricks. For all that,
we recognise that they are the ones Jesus deliberately and
personally chooses to share his mission of making the
kingdom happen - the rule and reign of God over everyone and
everything
All this leaves you and me with a great deal of hope.
Jesus has picked us, with all our faults and failings, but
with all our potential, to be on his Coming of the Kingdom
Team. Right now, we are even his Team of the Century.
The first thing to emphasize about all that is that he
needs us. His mission in our world will not happen without
us. To illustrate! A poor boy in a ghetto was being teased
by another boy who said, ‘If God loves you, why doesn’t he
take care of you? Why doesn’t God tell someone to bring you
shoes, a warm coat, and better food?’ The little lad thought
for a moment. Then, with tears in his eyes, he answered, ‘I
guess God does tell somebody, but somebody forgets.’
The beauty of the call of Jesus to each of us,
communicated by his connecting us to him at baptism, means
that each of us may tell ourselves this truth: ‘He has
chosen me, not because of any merits and achievements on my
part, but simply because he loves me and wants me on his
Kingdom of God Team. He has chosen me, not because I am more
virtuous, more gifted, or more suited than someone else, but
only because he loves me and wants me.’
This means that for the mission of Jesus, which is the
mission of God, I am a partner and a player. My life, my
efforts, and my contribution, count a lot.
So, to return to our leading question!
Do you really believe, that Jesus has chosen you to be
his disciple, as well as a missionary and agent of his love,
to others?
"Brian
Gleeson CP" <bgleesoncp@gmail.com>
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4.
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Year B: 3rd Sunday of Ordinary Time (The Power and
the Glory)
"Follow me and I will make you into fishers of
men."
Just once in a while, usually in that really quiet period
after Mass when nearly all of the people have gone, I will
notice out of the corner of my eye a young woman or a young
man hanging about suspiciously near the poor box by the
candle-stand. And as I clear up after Mass, they will
continue to hang around, loitering with what looks like
intent. And then when I walk up to the back of the Church,
they will very slowly sidle up to me. And then, as they get
near me, I will see a shifty look come into their eyes. And
then I will know that they want to ask me something –
something a bit more than the usual: "Oh Father, could you
lend me a fiver to get through to next Thursday." No, they
will ask, quietly and hesitantly, whether or not I think
they have a vocation to the priesthood or religious life.
To tell you the Truth, I never usually have any good
answers for them. After all, if they don’t know when they
are living with the question all the time, I don’t know how
they expect me to know. And so I give them the usual advice
– to pray, to read the Scriptures and to trust that God will
open their path. If they have a specific sense of call, then
I will give them the details of the vocations promoters
either of the diocese or of a religious order. But most
often, they are too unsure of their call to want to take
that step. And sadly – at least I think sadly – it is not
usually that they feel that they are too good for religious
life; but they believe that religious life is too good for
them – not that they do not feel the call, but that they do
not feel the confidence to respond with generosity to it.
They are held back by the fear that they are not actually
good enough for God.
Often they ask me for something to read about it. And out
of all the great spiritual texts that have been written
throughout the ages on the spirituality of priesthood and
religious life, I nearly always find myself recommending a
novel by Graham Greene – a religious sceptic of very
doubtful faith and even more dubious personal moral standing
– who ultimately became a Catholic of sorts and – as it
happens - a member of this parish of Farm Street in London.
That novel is called ‘The Power and the Glory’ and it
describes the life of a priest during the great atheist
persecution in Mexico in the 1930s, when a fascist regime
attempted to annihilate the Church in Mexico through
persecution. Thousands of priests and nuns were shot; many
more simply gave up the faith for their own protection. Only
a few persevered. Our "hero" was one of them. And, as we
follow his story, we discover that he is not much of a hero.
He cannot obtain the wine he needs to say mass, even by
bribery.
He runs from the enemies of the Church and, three times,
tries to escape across the border. Each time, however, the
needs of the people draw him back.
He is a whiskey-priest – a man who cannot face his fears
sober.
He even has an illegitimate daughter, growing up poor and
illiterate in a remote village with her destitute mother who
now despises him and all he has ever stood for.
And at the end, he is betrayed by a man whose life he
saved.
And he is shot – a reluctant martyr for a Faith he only
just about still retains.
We never learn his name.
And yet, throughout the book, we know that he is a martyr
we can believe in and understand, much more than any plaster
saint. This is a man if not like you, then very much like
me, who has bet his life on God’s promise that it is in our
own weaknesses that His strength will be most clear. It is
because of women and men like him that the Faith in Mexico
endured that bitter persecution and endures to this day. It
is because of women and men like him that the Faith will
continue to endure future persecutions. And we pray that, if
it falls into our calling, we may endure with it.
And so, now, whenever I meet a shifty eyed youngster at
the back of church who wonders whether God could be calling
her or him, despite whatever personal weaknesses – and we
all have them - I lend a copy of that book. I don’t know for
sure how many of them actually get around to reading it.
Sometimes the young person comes back; sometimes I never see
them again; hardly ever do they actually return the book.
But those who do, I hope, come to understand that living a
life in the service of God is not actually about the
personal gifts and talents of the person; it is about what
God can do with us. It is not about what I do for God; but
what I allow God to do in and through me.
I hope that there may be some here today to whom the Lord
wants to say: "Follow me, and I will make you fishers of
men." Wherever you have been in your life before; whatever
you have done or failed to do; I am the Lord. Follow me and
I will make you fishers of men.
Let us stand and profess our faith – and our hope that
all of us may respond generously to the calling that each of
us have been given to be God’s people in the world.
Paul
O'Reilly <fatbaldnproud@opalityone.net>
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5.
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