4th Sunday - B (January 31, 2021)

 

Why Has Jesus Come?

Mark 1: 21-28

 

“Have you come to destroy us?” cried the unclean spirit.

 

When Jesus comes into my life, I must ask myself whether I see his presence as an interference or an intervention.

 

When I am not ready or willing to change for the better, Jesus’ presence is an interference.

 

When I humbly acknowledge that I am a sinner, and I cannot save myself, then Jesus’ presence is an intervention. 

 

We will then appreciate that Jesus speaks God’s words to us (1^st Reading).   Thus, with his intervention, we will “be free of anxiety” (2^nd Reading).

 

Moreover, with Jesus, we in turn can bring peace to others. 

 Image source: www.agnusday.org

 

3rd Sunday - B (January 24, 2021)

 

This is Sunday of the Word of God

“The Kingdom of God is at Hand”

Mark 1: 14-20

 

This passage in the Gospel According to Mark reports the first meeting between Jesus and his first disciples.

 

The disciples are in the middle of their daily work.  They are with their father, brothers, and hired men. 

 

Jesus has countless ways of meeting us.  Yet so often, and for most of us, Jesus comes to meet us in our daily life.  He is present to us in and through our loved ones, friends, classmates, and coworkers.  May we be mindful of his presence.  And may we be mindful that others meet Jesus in and through us. 

 

 

Image source:  Google search, author or source not indicated.

2nd Sunday - B (January 17, 2021)

 

Stay With Jesus

John 1: 35-42

 

Having “stayed with Jesus that day,” the two disciples recognized Jesus as the Messiah. 

 

In order to know who Jesus is, we too must stay with him.    

 

And Jesus himself teaches us how we can stay with him.  Later in the Gospel of John, Jesus teaches that if we eat his flesh and drink his blood, we remain in him (John 6:56).  He then tells us to “remain in him” and have his words remain in us (John 15:7).  He also assures us that we remain in his love when we keep his commandment: “love one another as I love you.” (John 15: 10-12)  

 

Therefore, if we want to stay with Jesus in order to know him, we need to receive him in the Eucharist, to spend time with his words, and to love one another.

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[1] “Stay,” “remain” and also “abide” are different English translations of the same verb in the Greek text.  

 

 

Image source:   www.qumran2.net

Baptism of the Lord (January 10, 2021)

 

God’s Children

Readings

 

We close the Christmas Season with this feast of the Baptism of Jesus.  The Church wants to celebrate and again reminds us of God’s great gift – God’s only Son came to be with us to make us children of God. 

 

In the Collect (opening prayer) of the Mass, we pray that as God’s children, we “may always be well pleasing to” God.  Then, after Communion, we pray again, that “we may be [God’s] children in name and in truth.”

 

Many people today still need to know that they and all people are God’s children.  We can do that when we treat ourselves and others as children of God.

Image:  Young People Carrying the World Youth Day Cross

Epiphany (January 3, 2021)

 

The Inconvenience of Meeting God

Matthew 2: 1-12

 

Two groups of people have a chance to meet the newborn king of the Jews.

 

The magi “saw the star at its rising.”  They leave their homes and embark on their journey.  They disrupted their lives to “do homage” to this newborn king.  They could do that because they see the newborn king the fulfillment of a promise, of their hopes and probably their lifework.

 

King Herod and Jerusalem are “greatly troubled” at the prospect of this newborn king.  They presume the newborn king comes to threaten their routines, their power, and their positions.  It seems no surprise that neither Herod nor any of the chief priests and the scribes travel the five-mile trip to Bethlehem to do homage to the newborn King. 

 

How do I deal with the inconvenience of meeting God in my life, such as when I know I need to “make time” for God?  Or when somebody needs my help, asks for my time?   How do I react when God, through a person or a situation, invites me to change my thoughts, my attitude, or my way of doing things?

 

Image by Carmelo Garofalo, found at twitter.com/Cindy_Wooden