Weekly Bulletin - January 2006
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- 01 - Mary, Mother of God
- 08 - Epiphany of the Lord
- 15 - Second Sunday in Ordinary Time
- 22 - Third Sunday in Ordinary Time
- 29 - Fourth Sunday in Ordinary Time
Shakespeare, in his play Romeo and Juliet, writes, "What's in a name?" Today's scriptures
remind us that there is a lot in a name. The names that are mentioned in these readings
symbolize significant relationships in our faith: Mary, Joseph, Jesus, Abba.
When we first meet Mary in Luke's Gospel, the Evangelist writes simply, "and the virgin's name
was Mary." Mary--a young, faithful Jewish girl, whose very name is synonymous with the "Yes!"
with which she responded to God's plan.
PARTNERS IN THE PROMISE As a society, during these days we can be in something of a "postpartum" depression. Our celebrations of Christmas and the New Year are over, and after today many of us will put away the decorations and the last visible remnants of the celebrations of the past weeks. The apostle Paul today uses the expression "partners in the promise."
Today's Gospel story of John and his disciples seeing and following Jesus sounds so simple and casual, it's easy to miss the significant acts of faith that are made. John points to Jesus: "Look," he says, "there is the Lamb of God." John's faith in Jesus is evident, so evident that John's disciples immediately leave his side to follow this Jesus.
In today's first reading, Jonah, sent by God to warn the people, storms through Nineveh, frightening the citizens out of their wits. It works! They repent before Jonah makes his way through a third of the city, and God sees "by their actions" how they have turned from evil. Then we hear Paul telling the Corinthians that "the world in its present form is passing away." He calls for a change of heart. He stops short of telling them to set aside their everyday lives, but still he urges them-- rather mysteriously--to live as though they aren't doing the things they're doing.
Finally, Jesus stands on the shore and cries,"The kingdom of God is at hand!" The apostles-to-be abandon their nets and follow him. Thus in all the readings we hear an invitation to a radical and immediate change in our lives.
According to Moses, the people decided they didn't want to hear God's voice directly any more. It was much too frightening. Why couldn't God send human teachers, prophets, instead? God agreed, but with a warning. The people had better listen to those teachers, because they spoke in God's name. That arrangement, though, had its own problems, for them and for us. How do I know this teacher is truly from God? And if the teacher is from God, are all parts of the teaching meant for me? We have the Church and scripture to help us with those questions, but still there are always a few loose ends.