January 27, 2019

3rd Sun., Ordinary Time

January 27, 2019:  Third Sunday in Ordinary Time

See 17 connections with today?
Legend below
Listen

For 1st reading
For Psalm 19

For 2nd reading (after week of prayer for Christian unity but still apropos)
Check out Ed Bolduc's blog
For next Sunday:  Psalm 71:  I will sing/ Celoni:  sheet music
Pope Francis at WYD
Vigil:  Say yes:  The Lord is the first to say ‘yes’, and he wants us to say ‘yes’ along with him, to be part of a love story.  Mary is the supreme example of how to say ‘yes’ and trust in God's love and promises.  This makes Mary the ‘influencer’ of God.  Her ‘yes’ echoes and expands in every generation.  Saying ‘yes’ to the Lord means embracing life as it comes, with all its fragility.  The Lord wants to write our love story through our frailties and flaws.  What a gift to know our Father embraces us despite our imperfections!
To grow, we need strong roots to support us:  education , employment, family, community.  Without them, we can't dream of a future; we can't answer the question what and whom I'm living for.  To be an “influencer” today is to be a guardian of roots, of everything that makes us feel part of one another, that makes us feel we belong.  A lively, happy, welcoming community that gives us a sense of belonging allows us to live the joy that comes from Jesus finding us.
Are you willing to say ‘yes,’ to be an ‘influencer’ like Mary?  Only love makes us more human and fulfilled.  Don't be afraid to tell Jesus you want to be part of his love story. 
At Good Samaritan Shelter:  The Church's maternal face can create a home, create community.  And creating a home is to create a family.  A home demands that everyone work together; it means learning patience and forgiving one another.  That's how the miracle takes place.  We feel we're reborn, because we feel God’s caress that enables us to dream of a more human world.
Read
  • Neh 8:2-4a, 5-6, 8-10  Ezra brought the law before the assembly and read out of the book, and all listened attentively.  He opened the scroll, the people rose, he blessed the Lord, all answered “Amen!” and bowed, he read and interpreted, then Nehemiah, Ezra, and the Levites said, “Today is holy to the Lord.  Don't be sad.  Go, eat and drink, and allot portions to those who had nothing; for today is holy to our Lord.  Rejoicing in the Lord must be your strength!”
  • Ps 19:8-10, 15  "Your words, Lord, are Spirit and life."  The law of the Lord is perfect, trustworthy, right, clear, pure, true, and just, refreshing, giving wisdom, rejoicing the heart, enlightening the eye, everlasting.  May my words and thought find favor with You...
  • 1 Cor 12:12-30  As a body is one though it has many parts, so also Christ.  In one Spirit we were baptized into one body and given one Spirit.  God placed the parts in the body as he intended; all are necessary and have the same concern for each other.  You are Christ’s body, each a part.  God has designated some as apostles, prophets, teachers, miracle workers, healers, helpers, administrators, and tongues....
  • Lk 1:1-4; 4:14-21  Jesus returned in the Spirit's power; the news spread, he taught, and all praised him.  He stood up in the synagogue and read from Isaiah:  The Spirit of the Lord is upon me; he has anointed me to bring glad tidings to the poor.  He has sent me to proclaim liberty, recovery of sight, freedom, and a year acceptable to the Lord.  Then he told them, “Today this passage is fulfilled in your hearing.”
Reflect
  • Creighton:  Scripture is fulfilled in Christ, who taught and continues to teach the world. May we listen and be open to the Spirit, following him, doing his will, giving glory to God, not caught up in the noise of life.
  • One Bread, One Body:  "Guess what happened at church today":  For nearly 30 years, Jesus worshiped God in the synagogue; then the time of favor came, and the Spirit anointed and sent Jesus out, Scriptures were fulfilled, and Jesus prophesied in power and was nearly killed.
    Christ preaching in the synagogue at Nazareth/ Visoki
  • Today too Jesus is working in power.  We should never be complacent walking into Church but rather approach "the liturgy of the Lord" with reverence.  At any moment the Spirit may explode and an earthshaking ministry could be born.  Healings or life-changing revelations might occur.  Miracles occur:  bread and wine are transformed into Jesus' Body and Blood. The Scriptures will be fulfilled in the lives of many as Jesus comes alive in them and sets them free.  Today is holy to the Lord.  The Spirit anoints you.  Expect Mass to be charged with power as Jesus makes all things new.
  • Passionist:  Many consider today’s Gospel Jesus' Inaugural Address, charting out his platform for ministry.  What exciting, and demanding, words!  Earlier in Luke, Mary reinforced his prophetic role in her Magnificat, praising God who tears down the mighty from their thrones, lifts up the lowly, feeds the hungry, and sends the rich away empty.  Today’s readings introduce us to Jesus’ full ministry.
  • DailyScripture.net:  "Jesus returned in the power of the Spirit":  Jesus was about 30 when he began his public ministry.  Right after the Spirit anointed him, he spent 40 days in the wilderness in prayer and fasting, then returned in the Spirit's power to his own land.  He began his public ministry in Galilee, not Jerusalem, in fulfillment of Isaiah's prophecy.  He announced his mission in the Nazareth synagogue, where people were familiar with him.  Many knew him as a carpenter and Joseph's son. When the president called on him to read from Isaiah, he read what the Messiah would do when he came to restore God's kingdom. He prophesied God would send the Messiah and the Spirit would anoint him to preach good news and bring healing and freedom.  Jesus awakened their hope when he announced that he himself was fulfilling the prophecy.  People spoke well of him and received his word with wonder but also questioned how Joseph's son would do it. Jesus challenged them to believe God's word spoken through the prophet and the word he spoke then in the Spirit's power.  The Lord speaks the same word to each of us:  he comes to bring healing, restoration, pardon, and freedom from the oppression of sin, despair, and destruction.  He'll pour out his Spirit on all who trust in him. Lord, renew in me gospel joy and the freedom to live with faith, hope, and love.
Dress legend
  • 'Scroll' pin:  Ezra opened the law scroll and read (1st reading); Your words are Spirit and life (psalm); Jesus read from the scroll (gospel)
  • 'Musical notes with "joy"' pin:  Rejoicing in the Lord must be your strength (1st reading)
  • 'Clock' tie bar:  "The Lord sent me to proclaim a year acceptable to him" (gospel)
  • 'Owl' pin:  The Lord's decree gives wisdom to the simple (psalm)
  • 'Eyeball' pin:  The Lord's command enlightens the eye (psalm); If an ear were to say, "Because I'm not an eye, I don't belong to the body"... (2nd reading); "The Lord sent me to proclaim recovery of sight to the blind"; all eyes looked at Jesus (gospel)
  • 'Heart' clip: The Lord's precepts rejoice the heart (psalm)
  • 'Rock' tie pin:  Lord, my Rock (psalm)
  • 'Skeleton' tie pin:  The body is one though it has many parts (2nd reading)
  • 'Dove' pin:  In one Spirit we were all baptized into one body (2nd reading); Jesus returned in the power of the Spirit; "The Spirit of the Lord is upon me" (gospel)
  • 'Precious feet' pin, 'hand' tie pin:  If a foot were to say, "Because I'm not a hand I don't belong to the body"... (2nd reading)
  • 'Classroom' tie:  Some people God has designated in the church to be... teachers (2nd reading)
  • Green shirt:  Ordinary Time season
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