Sunday Reading Reflections:

First Sunday in Lent, Year B
Sunday, March 1, 2009


Gen 9:8-15 & 1 Peter 3:18-22

The readings from Genesis and 1 Peter evoke the destructive yet life-giving waters of the great flood of old. They invite us to reflect on our baptism as a participation in God's covenant with all of creation, with 'every living creature of every kind'.

The reading from 1 Peter reminds us of God's will to 'save' and of God's triumph over the forces that oppose God's ways of being in the world.

Mark 1:12-15

The four verses that make up today's gospel present a little drama that is played out in several 'worlds': the celestial, the human, the animal, and the 'wilderness' worlds.

Jesus is, as usual, the main character. The Spirit, Satan, God, and God's angels, members of God's heavenly court, represent the celestial world. The 'wild beasts' interact with the 'angels' in the wilderness. Numbers feature symbolically, as do settings and characters.

God's Spirit has featured in the previous scene: Jesus is the chosen one of God on whom God's Spirit rests, the one sent to be a light to the peoples. Now the Spirit impels Jesus into the wilderness, the place of beginnings for Israel. Satan, a member of God's heavenly court, tests (a better translation of the Greek than 'tempts') him. Jesus is tested for 40 days, just as the people of Israel were tested during their 40 year ordeal in the wilderness.

Jesus passes the test that Israel failed. He is 'with the wild beasts'. This evokes Isaiah's prophecy of a time when God would reign, a time of reconciliation, of trust, of harmony and peace: 'The wolf shall lie down with the lamb ...'(Isa 11:6-9). Jesus is with the wild beasts, but is not devoured, because God looks after him. He reconciles the most seemingly irreconcilable elements.

This little gospel scene provides a microcosm of the ministry of Jesus, and of his struggle to overcome the opposing forces that threaten the success of his mission.

God's power breaks through, Jesus announces the 'time' of God's reign. This is not a matter of clock time (chronos) but of God's time (kairos), the time to turn our lives in God's direction. The tense of the verb is continuous: the invitation is to continually 'think beyond' and turn our lives towards God.

Lent helps us to focus on that invitation.

by Sr. Veronica Lawson RSM (East Ballarat)

Ash Wednesday Reflection:

ASH WEDNESDAY

" Dust thou art, and into dust thou shalt return."
Gn. 3:19

Rend your hearts, not your garments, and return to the Lord, your God. (Joel 2:13)

Reflection.

The liturgical use of ashes originated in the Old Testament times. Ashes symbolized mourning, mortality and penance. In the Book of Esther, Mordecai put on sackcloth and ashes when he heard of the decree of King Ahasuerus to kill all of the Jewish people in the Persian Empire (Esther 4:1). Job repented in sackcloth and ashes (Job 42:6). Prophesying the Babylonian captivity of Jerusalem, Daniel wrote, "I turned to the Lord God, pleading in earnest prayer, with fasting, sackcloth, and ashes" (Daniel 9:3).

Jesus made reference to ashes, "If the miracles worked in you had taken place in Tyre and Sidon, they would have reformed in sackcloth and ashes long ago" (Matthew 11:21). In the Middle Ages, the priest would bless the dying person with holy water, saying, "Remember that thou art dust and to dust thou shalt return."

The Church adapted the use of ashes to mark the beginning of the penitential season of Lent, when we remember our mortality and mourn for our sins. In our present liturgy for Ash Wednesday, we use ashes made from the burned palm branches distributed on the Palm Sunday of the previous year. The priest blesses the ashes and imposes them on the foreheads of the faithful, making the sign of the cross and saying, "Remember, man you are dust and to dust you shall return," or "Turn away from sin and be faithful to the Gospel." As we begin this holy season of Lent in preparation for Easter, we must remember the significance of the ashes we have received: We mourn and do penance for our sins. We again convert our hearts to the Lord, who suffered, died, and rose for our salvation. We renew the promises made at our baptism, when we died to an old life and rose to a new life with Christ. Finally, mindful that the kingdom of this world passes away, we strive to live the kingdom of God now and look forward to its fulfillment in heaven.

Lenten Question

Q: What is Lent?

A: Lent is the forty day period before Easter, excluding Sundays, which begins on Ash Wednesday and ends on Holy Saturday (the day before Easter Sunday). [This traditional ennumeration does not precisely coincide with the calendar according to the liturgical reform. In order to give special prominence to the Sacred Triduum (Mass of the Lord's Supper, Good Friday, Easter Vigil) the current calendar counts Lent as only from Ash Wednesday to Holy Thursday, up to the Mass of the Lord's Supper. Even so, Lenten practices are properly maintained up to the Easter Vigil, excluding Sundays, as before.]

Lenten Action.

Invite a non-practicing friend to Mass with you.

Prayer.

Almighty and everlasting God, you despise nothing you have made and forgive the sins of all who are penitent.Create and make in us new and contrite hearts, that we, worthily lamenting our sins and acknowledging our brokenness, may obtain of you, the God of all mercy, perfect remission and forgiveness;through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever.Amen.


Ash Wednesday is a day of both fasting and abstinence.

Sunday Gospel Reflections:

Sunday, February 22, 2009
Seventh Sunday in Ordinary Time

Mark 2:1-12

The Son of Man has the authority on earth to forgive sins.
As I was reading Mk 2:1-12, I could immediately see such a scene taking place in
Ghana where houses are low and squatty with thatched roofs, and where a paralytic
would actually be carried on dried animal skin suspended between two long poles.
Jesus had been away from Capernaum for some time and it didn’t take long for
word of his return to spread throughout the village. The people had heard about
Jesus’ compassionate love and care for the sick and suffering, and they wanted to
see and to hear him.

The large crowd that had gathered in and around the house where Jesus was
preaching did not prevent the family from bringing their paralyzed loved one. They
were determined to present him directly and personally to Jesus for healing. Jesus
did not seem to find it distracting or annoying to have the roof removed from over
him, but rather seeing their faith he was moved to compassionate response for the
paralytic and gave him the greatest of gifts: complete healing and forgiveness.

The simple people in the crowd seemed to accept the experience for what it was,
but the scribes, closed-minded, set in their righteous ways, failed to recognize Jesus
and immediately had negative, condemning thoughts of him. Jesus picking up on
their critical thoughts challenged them with the question: “Which is easier to say to
the paralytic, ‘Your sins are forgiven’, or to say “Get up; pick up your stretcher and
walk’?” Wanting the scribes to know him and wanting to respond to the paralytic,
Jesus healed both his soul and his body.

Does any part of this story remind me of my own behavior?
Do I find myself identifying with the paralytic? With the ones carrying him to
Jesus? Or with the scribes setting around Jesus or with the crowd surrounding
Jesus? And can I identify with Jesus?

Do I believe that Jesus can reach deep within me and heal my most shrouded
area of pain?

What do I do in my daily living that reveals my belief?

--Reflection and questions by Frances Lorene Lange, CDP

Sunday Reading Reflections:

6th Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year B
Sunday, February 15, 2009


Lev 13:1-2, 44-46

To be a leper in the world of ancient Israel and early Judaism was to have some sort of skin disease that excluded a person from community and in particular from public worship. There were very strict regulations regarding such lepers. Their condition required ritual cleansing by a priest and an offering that cost money. The reading from Leviticus demonstrates that lepers suffered not only from sickness but even more significantly from social and communal exclusion. That seems horrifying from our perspective and it was.

1 Cor 10:31-11:1, 22-23

Again and again, Paul begs the wealthy members of the Corinthian community to be attentive to the sensitivities and needs of others. The community probably numbered about 50 and it necessarily fell to the wealthy to host the community gatherings. Paul, who is writing to them from Ephesus, has been informed that the behaviour of some members at these Eucharistic gatherings is reprehensible. The conventional mores with regard to meals permitted different kinds of food for people of differing status. This is not the way of the gospel. They are to eat at home before they come together for the ritual meal. Under no circumstances are the poor to be humiliated. They have seen how Paul behaves and he offers himself as the standard for their behaviour.

Mark 1:40-45

In this little story, a man with leprosy approaches Jesus and begs for healing. Jesus is 'moved with compassion', literally 'moved in his gut, or in the depths of his being'. In other words, Jesus has a physical reaction in the face of suffering. Some manuscripts have 'moved with anger'. [A later scribe probably considered that expression too harsh and softened the text].

Jesus wills the cure of the man. He actually reaches out and touches him, and then sends him back to tell the priests 'as a proof to them'. The verb used for 'send back' presupposes that the priests had already been approached without success. Jesus, the Galilean healer, succeeds in mediating the power of the God of Israel and so restores this outcast to life in the community. The widespread report of Jesus' healing activity incurs the anger of some of the authorities.

For our part, as followers of Jesus, we might reflect on the fact that sickness and disability are not only physical phenomena. They also affect people emotionally and socially. Healing enables people to live again, to return to the life of the community, to do the things they want to do. The combination of a compassionate word and a healing touch can work wonders. That was true in the ancient world. It is equally true in today's world.

by: Sr. Veronica Lawson RSM (East Ballarat)

Sunday Reading Reflections:

February 8, 2009
Fifth Sunday in Ordinary Time

First Reading: Job 7:1-4, 6-7

The Book of Job is a reflection on human suffering. It ponders the age-old mystery, 'Why does the just person suffer?' Job's so-called 'comforters' are locked into a mindset that considers human suffering to be God's punishment for sin. Job's experience dictates otherwise. Sadly, millions of good people across our planet know the experience that Job describes: hard labour, little return for hard work, a sense of emptiness, sleepless nights. What can this little vignette offer us? Job complains, but does not lose faith in God. Sometimes we need to complain, even bitterly, and to unburden our hearts in safe places. Simply naming the pain can bring some relief.

Second Reading: 1 Cor 9:16-19, 22-23

In the verses preceding this passage, Paul has made it clear that those who preach the gospel have a right to financial support from the community. In his concern to 'win' all for the sake of the gospel, he is prepared to forego this right and make a living as a tentmaker. In various parts of his correspondence with the Corinthian community, there are hints that some of his readers are more mature in their faith and moral development than others. Paul does not condemn 'the weak'. Rather, he accommodates their lack of maturity and at the same time challenges them to grow in their faith and moral commitment. He also challenges the more sophisticated who think they have all the answers. It is sometimes the less well off in our communities who contribute most in financial terms and subsidise those who take the gospel ministry for granted.


Gospel Reading: Mark 1:29-38


Today's gospel presents Jesus healing a woman who is identified only in relation to her son-in-law, Peter. She may not be named, but she is the first human character in the Markan gospel story who is said to 'minister'. In other words, the love of God working through Jesus draws her beyond herself to engage in a ministry of bringing the bread of life, of caring for God's people. A little earlier in Mark's gospel we hear that angels ministered to Jesus in the desert: in other words God looked after Jesus as he embarked on his mission of bringing God's healing love to a broken world. Now this woman is caught up in the same mission. The many people healed by Jesus come a little closer to knowing the happiness that is the goal of all being, the realisation of God's 'empire'.

by Veronica Lawson RSM (East Ballarat)