Fourteenth Sunday of Ordinary Time, Year C, 3rd July 2022

The Kingdom of God is very near you!

We are called and sent to bring the deep peace of the kingdom of God into the world.

The prophet Isaiah (First Reading) proclaims a joyful time of peace that flows like a river from the healing, comforting love of God, which is compared to the intimate, tender bond between a mother and a baby.

The same spirit of contented happiness is reflected in today’s Psalm of jubilation, where the whole earth cries out with joy to the Lord.

The members of the Early Church community in Galatia are encouraged to be at peace with one another through Christ, who makes us a new creation in him. Christ is the source of all peace and unity in the world (Second Reading).

In the Gospel, Jesus sends seventy-two of his followers ahead of him. He is confident that they will have all they need for their mission through all they have learnt from following his way. He instructs them to bring his peace and healing into the communities that they visit.

In a world that cries out more than ever for the peace of Christ, especially for the people of Ukraine, this is our calling today. Jesus stands among us and sends us before him, to declare his peace and to heal and encourage people in the knowledge that the Kingdom of God is very near. Let us pray that the whole Christian community will joyfully answer this call.

prego-otc-14-2022-2022Download

prego-plus-14th-sunday-otc-2022Download

Eighth Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year C, 27th February 2022

The disciple will imitate their teacher

This Sunday’s readings remind us that our words and actions reflect the reality of our inner selves. Even as we pray and long to live the values of Jesus, our speech may betray the ways in which we have yet to be fully converted, and show our need for God’s mercy.

The First Reading encourages us to be discriminating in conversation with others, noticing the quality and content of another’s speech before choosing to imitate them.

The Gospel invites us to have Jesus for our teacher and guide: ‘the fully trained disciple will always be like their teacher’. We are reminded to avoid the temptation to follow others blindly or to criticise them when our own faults are much more evident. Our lives will reflect our own purity of heart and likeness to Jesus.

Whilst this may seem a hard teaching and difficult to put into practice, St Paul tells us that we should never give up, never admit defeat, because, while we are working at the Lord’s work, we can never be labouring fruitlessly. God will always give us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ! (Second Reading)

And so we can recite the Psalm with joy, offering praise and thanks to the Lord, who sustains those who place their trust in God. Rooted in Jesus, we will flourish like a palm tree by an oasis or a sturdy Lebanon cedar. We will proclaim the goodness of God.

prego-8th-sunday-otc-2022Download

prego-plus-8th-sunday-otc-2022Download

Seventh Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year C, 20th February 2022

‘My soul, give thanks to the Lord!’

Today’s readings invite and challenge us to live generous, kind-hearted lives of compassion, mercy and love.

In the First Reading, David, the future king of Israel, shows great magnanimity in sparing the life of his persecutor Saul. The dramatic incident in the camp highlights David’s ingenuity and his sense of honour, and indicates that Saul’s days as king of Israel are numbered.

These events prepare us for today’s challenging Gospel, where we hear Jesus urging us to show forgiveness even to our enemies, and to be ‘compassionate as your Father is compassionate’. However, the last verses make it clear that the demands of the kingdom can only be understood in the light of our relationship with God.

St Paul teaches that though there is much of the ‘earthly Adam’ in all of us, our desire and yearning must be to live and love as did Jesus Christ – the ‘heavenly Adam’ (Second Reading).

The Psalm is a song of praise and gratitude for the Lord’s own compassion and love.

Given our ‘earthbound’ nature, we are all too aware that we cannot live out the teachings of Jesus without help! This week, I may like to pray for the grace to be open both to the gifts of the Holy Spirit, and also to the life of the risen Lord working in, with and through me. We pray, too, that our sisters and brothers everywhere may be open to God’s compassion and love.

prego-7th-sunday-otc-2022-1Download

prego-plus-7th-sunday-otc-2022Download

Sixth Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year C, 13th February 2022

Happy are those who trust in the Lord

The theme of this Sunday’s readings can be summarised in two words: Happiness and Trust.

Looking for happiness has always been at the core of people’s preoccupations. In the First Reading, Jeremiah tells his audience that they need to make a clear choice: they either trust only in people, or only in God. With striking images from nature, Jeremiah contrasts dry, wild wastelands with a luxurious tree growing by the waterside.

Using similar imagery, the Psalm makes the same point: trusting in the Lord will bring happiness. It starts with a ‘beatitude’ which is also at the core of the Gospel, this year read in Luke’s version. Luke’s Beatitudes are shorter than those in Matthew’s Gospel, and also include warnings for those who have made the wrong choices: ‘Alas for you …’

For Paul in the Second Reading, it is Christ’s resurrection which is the source of our hopes and happiness. If he had not risen, we would have remained the most unfortunate of all people.

So our prayer this week may well centre around the choices we have made, do make, and will make, as we try to find happiness – not just for ourselves, but also for those around us or for the world at large. We can perhaps also ask the Lord for greater trust in him.

prego-6th-sunday-otc-2022Download

prego-plus-6th-sunday-otc-2022Download

Fifth Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year C, 6th February 2022

‘Put out into deep water!’

The readings for this Sunday speak of Christ’s call to us, and the mission given to each of us to follow him and to proclaim the Lord’s message.

The prophet Isaiah describes a vision of the Lord of Hosts (First Reading). Although overwhelmed by his own sinfulness, the prophet experiences the gift of forgiveness and answers the call to be the Lord’s messenger.

The Psalmist is full of praise and thanks for all the gifts that the Lord brings; he is overcome with gratitude that the Lord has answered his call.

In the Second Reading, St Paul tells the Corinthians that however unworthy his previous life has been, he has been given the grace to teach others. What he teaches has been handed down from the apostles and others who knew Jesus and witnessed his resurrection, and is the source of our belief.

In the Gospel we read of Jesus’s calling of Simon, James and John. Having fished all night without success, the disciples respond to Jesus’s invitation to ‘put out into deep water’, and are rewarded with an enormous catch of fish. Assuring them they have nothing to fear, Jesus gives them their mission as fishers of people.

This week, we pray that as we hear Christ calling us to our own unique mission, we will have the courage to put aside our fears of unworthiness. We ask the Lord for the grace to place all our faith and trust in him, and for the generosity to play our part in building his kingdom here on earth.

prego-5th-sunday-otc-2022Download

prego-plus-5th-sunday-otc-2022Download

Fourth Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year C, 30th January 2022

 Christ the prophet

Following Jesus’s own use of words from the prophet of Isaiah in last week’s Gospel, the readings for this Sunday bring us to consider the rejection faced by God’s prophets. But we also receive words we can rely on, words of love and trust.

God’s words to Jeremiah, in the First Reading, confirm him in his calling, and reassure him that despite trials he will never be abandoned.

The Psalmist sings of God’s help, justice, strength and dependency. From his youth God has never failed him.

The Second Reading is Paul’s beautiful hymn to love in the letter to the Corinthians. Love is the only true way of life which sustains us whatever happens.

In the Gospel, the people of Nazareth react to Jesus’s challenging words with anger and some even try to kill him.

Early on in Luke’s Gospel we see Jesus reaching out to outsiders, and in his rejection the cross is already present. Perhaps this week we may pray for the gift of trust in God’s love that conquers all things.

prego-sunday-otc-4-2022Download

prego-plus-4th-sunday-otc-2022Download

Third Sunday in Ordinary Time (The Sunday of the Word of God), Year C, 23rd January 2022

‘Your words are spirit, Lord, and they are life’

On this ‘Sunday of the Word of God’, we are invited to deepen our relationship with the Lord through our devotion and dedication to reading and praying with scripture. In each reading, we hear how the Spirit of the Lord revives, liberates, sustains, unites and gives life.

The law of the Lord is read out by Ezra (First Reading), and the people are taught to celebrate it. The joy of the Lord is their stronghold.

The Psalm celebrates God’s law of love: each line is a litany of the comfort, joy and strength that can be drawn from the Word of God.

Paul teaches that although the Christian community is very diverse, with different strengths and perspectives, we are all united in the Spirit of the Lord though our baptism (Second Reading).

Jesus, filled with the spirit of the Lord, reads from the word of God and proclaims that Isaiah’s prophecy is embodied and fulfilled in him (Gospel). Jesus liberates, heals, transforms and brings good news.

As followers of Jesus who are united by the living Spirit of God, this is our calling too. With our lives centred on Scripture, the living word of God, we are not alone as we pray. We belong to a living, transforming community of believers united by our baptism. We share the same joy expressed by the Psalmist, and are guided by the word of God that the prophets proclaimed. Let us pray that our lives will be a testament to the liberating, healing teachings that Jesus embodied.

prego-3rd-sunday-otc-2022Download

prego-plus-3rd-sunday-otc-2022Download

Second Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year C, 16th January 2022

‘Do whatever he tells you.’

In the First Reading this week, Isaiah uses the beautiful imagery of a wedding to describe the ways in which the deep love of God for his people will transform our lives.  God delights in us:  ‘As the bridegroom rejoices in his bride so will your God rejoice in you’.

Another wedding scene is described in today’s Gospel.   At the beginning of his public life, Jesus’s love and care transform a wedding feast from disaster to joyous celebration by turning water into wine.

St Paul teaches the church in Corinth about how God works through the many different people in the church so that they (and we) can use their gifts in a variety of ways in his service, united by the one Spirit working through them all to transform the lives of others. (Second Reading)

The Psalm invites us to praise God and to proclaim the good news of God’s transforming love to all peoples.

In what ways do we need the Lord to transform our lives this week?

prego-sunday-2-otc-2022Download

prego-plus-2nd-sunday-otc-2022Download

The Baptism of the Lord, 9th January 2022, Year C

‘He is like a shepherd feeding his flock, gathering lambs in his arms’

Today marks the end of the Christmas season, as we celebrate the Baptism of the Lord. It heralds the beginning of Jesus’s public mission: the work of teaching, preaching and healing. God’s great love and mercy offer salvation to all through Jesus, by the gift of the Holy Spirit.

In the Gospel, God proclaims Jesus as his beloved Son at his baptism in the Jordan. St Luke draws our attention to the descent of the Holy Spirit while Jesus is at prayer.

The First Reading offers hope and joy. God has seen his people repent and will bring them home across the desert. He is both their defender and their shepherd, who gathers, guides and nourishes.

The image of God gathering and nourishing is echoed in the Psalm. The Lord renews with his Spirit all who look to him.

St Paul (Second Reading) tells us it is entirely due to God’s mercy, love and compassion that we are offered salvation; not for anything we have achieved. God’s loving kindness is revealed through ‘the cleansing water of rebirth’ and renewal with the Holy Spirit in Christ.

Today is an opportunity to reflect on the gift of baptism. We remind ourselves that the words spoken at Jesus’s baptism also apply to us.

We, too, are beloved daughters and sons of God, called to make known the love of God to all we meet. Let’s pray this week, and in the weeks ahead, for whatever grace God feels we need to help us.

prego-baptism-of-the-lord-year-c-2022-4Download

prego-plus-baptism-of-the-lord-year-c-2022-2Download

Fourth Sunday of Advent, Year C, 19th December 2021

“Blessed is the fruit of your womb!”

Christ is coming! The readings this weekend are full of an expectation. God’s promise through Micah is fulfilled in the encounter between Mary and Elizabeth, and their faith.

In the First Reading, Micah proclaims that the Messiah will come from Bethlehem and lead his flock back to their land in peace.

The Psalm is a plea to the Shepherd of Israel for this return, and for the sending of the Messiah, the chosen one.

The Second Reading from the Letter to the Hebrews emphasizes the fact that the Christ who redeemed us took on a human body, like ours.

The Gospel helps us gather all these themes: obedience to God’s will; faith in his promises; and especially faith in the Incarnation – Jesus our Saviour, already becoming flesh in Mary’s womb.

May we journey through these last days of Advent in Mary’s company, so that Christ may be born in us.

prego-sunday-advent-4-year-c-2021Download

prego-plus-advent-4-year-c-2021Download