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Second Sunday in Ordinary Time
January 19, 2020Baptism of the Lord
Focus
John the Baptist saw Jesus coming toward him and said, "Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world...." John testified further, saying, "I saw the Spirit come down like a dove from heaven and remain upon him. ...[T]he one who sent me to baptize with water told me, 'On whomever you see the Spirit come down and remain, he is the one who will baptize with the Holy Spirit.'”
One-Minute-Homily
> We understand the importance of rules and we expect people to follow the rules, but we are more impressed and scared by people whose spirit empowers them to transcend the rules. People who do more than they have to do—more than is required by the rules – often embarrass us.
> John the Baptist recognized Jesus as the Lamb of God because of the Spirit. The Spirit of Jesus revealed someone who, in the words of Scripture, "fulfilled" the law, someone who was in fact more than the law required or expected.
> As Pope Francis is fond of saying, we are all challenged to grow in our awareness and our desire to follow the Spirit, to live our lives in ways which transcend or transform the law. That means to care more, to share more, to forgive more than is merely required by simple justice.
> The Eucharist should be an encounter with the Spirit of the Living God, which empowers us to live beyond the rules.
For Reflection or Discussion
> Question for Children: Why do people make rules for children to follow?
> Question for Youth: Young people often experience rules in tension or conflict with a deeper, more important value, a passion to be more and do more than the rules require. Have you experienced that in your own life?
> Question for Adults, Families and Faith Communities: Are we people who are bound by the rules or people who are living beyond the rules? Do we encourage and enable others to grow beyond the rules?
Learn More
• Read Sunday's readings here
• Read a commentary on Sunday’s readings here
• Reflect on an image for Sunday's Gospel here• Hear the Gospel from a Third World perspectiveFind a schedule of Masses in the Waterloo and Cedar Falls parishes here• • •
January 12, 2020
Focus
Jesus came from Galilee to John at the Jordan to be baptized by him. John tried to prevent him, saying, “I need to be baptized by you, and yet you are coming to me?” Jesus said to him in reply, “Allow it now….” After Jesus was baptized, he came up from the water and behold,… he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove…. And a voice came from the heavens, saying, “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased.”
One-Minute-Homily
> Even in the age of User IDs and passwords, being named and claimed by someone -- "my daughter," "my husband," "my mother" – tells us who we are and where we are from. It also imposes a commitment which limits our freedom to be and do whatever we want to be and do.
> In this week's Gospel, the Father names and claims Jesus -- "this is my beloved son." It imposes on Jesus the responsibility to be and do what the Son of God was expected to be and do.
> In the sacrament of Baptism the Christian community recognizes us as brothers and sisters. Our challenge then is to allow God to name and claim us as sons and daughters -- to grow in our awareness and response, to be and do what is expected of us as God's children.
> The Eucharist names and claims us as the Body of Christ on earth; it imposes on us the challenge of being and acting like the Body of Christ in our world.
For Reflection or Discussion
> Question for Children: What does your name tell you about yourself?
> Question for Youth: As young adults we are in the process of learning how to be adults in our own right and by our own choice. How are those decisions shaped by those who have claimed and named
us?
> Question for Adults, Families and Faith Communities: Do we recognize people who are different from us as God’s sons and daughters? Can we say of them, as God does, “I am well pleased”?
Learn More
• Read Sunday's readings here
• Read a commentary on Sunday’s readings here
• Reflect on an image for Sunday's Gospel here
• Hear the Gospel from a Third World perspective• • •
Solemnity of the Epiphany
January 5, 2020
FocusWhen Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea, in the days of King Herod, behold, magi from the east arrived in Jerusalem.... And behold, the star that they had seen at its rising preceded them, until it came and stopped over the place where the child was. ...On entering the house they saw the child with Mary his mother. They prostrated themselves and did him homage. Then they opened their treasures and offered him gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh.One-Minute-Homily
> People of vision – people of faith and hope -- often lead difficult lives. Their vision of how things could be or should be seems so contrary to common social, political or religious expectations; they are shunned as impractical dreamers or troublemakers.
> The Magi were obviously people of vision. They followed a star toward a reality few other people could imagine; they were not deterred by the long distance, an alien land, the evil king, or how incredible their vision was.
> As Christians, we too are challenged to be people of vision -- a vision of how life can be. We are challenged to be people of hope and faith even in circumstances which make the vision seem so impractical, so far out of reach, and so contrary to "the way things are."
> The Eucharist keeps the vision alive; it also revives the hope and courage we need to keep living toward the vision.
For Reflection or Discussion
> Question for Children: What do you think about or feel when you look at the stars?
> Question for Youth: Sometimes young people have a vision for their lives that seems to conflict with the expectations of adults or peers. What can you learn from the example of the Magi?
> Question for Adults, Families and Faith Communities: Are we people of vision and hope, even when it seems so impossible? How are we coping with the tension between "the way things are" and "the way things could be"?
Learn More
• Read Sunday's readings here
• Read a commentary on Sunday’s readings here
• Reflect on an image for Sunday's Gospel here
• Hear the Gospel from a Third World perspective• Find a schedule of Masses in the Waterloo and Cedar Falls parishes here
[Last Update: 01.04.20]
