Fourth Sunday of Lent 19 March, Fifth Sunday of Lent 26 March and Palm Sunday 2 April 2023
Fourth Sunday of Lent (John 9:1-41)
This week we have the story of the man born blind. A story of a journey in faith, which invites us to consider our own journey. The words of Jesus gives us the theme: Jesus is the Light of the World. Like the man born blind, we too have the opportunity of seeing again, seeing with greater clarity.
This man has to defend the reality of the healing. Yes, he was blind from birth and yes, he has been given his sight. He bears witness to Jesus more and more strongly. In the end it is clear that there are none so blind as those who will not see.
What might we learn from the courageous witness of the man born blind?
Am I to some extent still blind and unwilling to see?
We pray for those who are still seeking the light and discouraged by darkness.
We pray for all those to be baptised at Easter.
Fifth Sunday in Lent (John 11:1-45)
This Sunday we have the raising of Lazarus. The theme: Jesus is the resurrection and the life. No wonder he goes on to restore earthly life to Lazarus as a sign of the life to come.. This shows us the glory of God and strengthens faith. This provokes strong opposition from the religious leaders who plot to destroy Jesus. The one who gives life will have life torn from him in return.
How does this story prepare us for the celebration of the Easter mystery?
In what sense is this the greatest of the signs worked by Jesus?
We pray that we may understand and truly believe that God is the God of life.
We ask for the grace to live the time of Christ’s passion and death to the full.
Passion (Palm) Sunday (Matthew 26:14-27:66)
The words of Jesus show how deep is his anguish. At his death Jesus freely gives up his spirit.
The death of the Son of God heralds new life, not only for Jesus, but also for the saints who sleep in death. Those guarding Jesus and the Centurion join in a chorus of awe-struck faith at the death of Jesus. Thus, implying that Jesus brings new life both to Jewish saints and to gentile soldiers, in other words, to all.
What are the striking features of the story of the passion as told by Matthew?
Take time this week to read the whole of Matthew’s account of the death of Christ.
We pray that our Holy Week will prepare us for the gift of new life at Easter.
We join Christians throughout the world in living these holy days to the full.
Fr Adrian Graffy
First, Second and Third Sunday of Lent 26 February, 5 and 12 Match 2023
First Sunday of Lent (Matthew 4:1-11)
Jesus, filled with the Spirit received at his baptism, is now led by the same Spirit to the place of encounter with the devil. He who was willing to undergo the baptism usually reserved for sinners now submits to the challenge of evil. He who showed solidarity with sinners now confronts the power of sin.. The sinless one, who comes to save sinners, is tempted, for Jesus in his humanity has the same power of choice that we have. While we frequently succumb to the lure of evil, Jesus never does.
From where does Jesus derive his strength in his battle with evil?
To what extent do the Scriptures inspire my decisions?
Pray for the courage to unmask the deceptive power of evil.
Pray for the wisdom to reject selfishness and the strength to confront evil.
Second Sunday in Lent (Matthew 17:1-9)
The Transfiguration recounts an experience of Jesus which three disciples shared, but which they are told must remain secret until after he has risen from the dead. The experience astonishes the disciples, for they see Jesus transformed, transfigured as they have never seen him before. In the gospel story Jesus has just told his disciples that he foresees his own passion and death. The transfiguration serves to put their fear in a broader context, giving these three disciples a glimpse of something beyond suffering and death.
How might the story of he transfiguration give us hope?
Have I ever experienced anything like transfiguration in my own life?
We pray that we may persevere min trust, like Jesus and Abraham.
We pray for a broader vision, that we may be more aware of the things of God, and of God’s goodness.
Third Sunday of Lent (John 4:5-42)
This passage from John helps to prepare us for Easter and the celebration of our new life in Jesus Christ. The Samaritan woman’s journey reflects our own journey of faith. Water gives life. The ‘living water’ given by Jesus points to eternal life. As the dialogue continues it is established that Jesus is not only a prophet, but the Messiah. The woman’s eyes are gradually opening, enough for her to tell her townspeople. At the end they too come to believe, not simply due to her testimony but because thy have themselves heard the preaching of Jesus.
How is the Samaritan woman a model for our faith journey?
Are we also sometimes slow to understand the gifts of God?
We pray that we may worship the Lord in spirit and truth.
We pray for the courage to lead others to Christ, the teacher who gives us ‘living water’.
Fr Adrian Graffy
Fourth and Fifth Sundays in Ordinary Times 29 January and 5 February
Fourth Sunday in Ordinary Time (Matthew 5:1-12)
Matthew’s gospel is a gospel of teaching. It celebrates Jesus as a great teacher, who surpasses even Moses. The evangelist sets down five major speeches of Jesus in the course of the gospel. And the first is the Sermon on the Mount.
The beatitudes of Jesus present a radical challenge to commonly accepted ideas. Jesus proclaims that the poor are ‘blessed’ or ‘happy’, not the rich. It is the gentle, the meek, who will inherit the earth, not those who are violent.
Eight beatitudes describe eight qualities or situations, such as those who mourn, who show mercy, who are persecuted. Each of these qualities or situations is described by Jesus as a special channel of God’s favour. Jesus presents to us a profound challenge which invites us to reconsider and to change the way we think and the way we behave.
The final beatitude ‘Happy are you’. How can we possibly consider persecution and abuse to be blessings? If we can unite our own sufferings with those of Christ, we can begin to know God’s presence in an entirely new way.
Is it absurd to, look upon personal suffering as a gift from God?
What should our attitude be to the suffering of others?
We ask for the strength to transform our attitudes and behaviour.
We pray for all those who are persecuted and abused.
Fifth Sunday in Ordinary Time (Matthew 5:13-16)
This week, Jesus uses two simple images, salt and light. Here, Jesus is actually talking about salt which has lost its taste and is good for nothing. The challenge he is putting before the disciples is the risk of losing their zeal, losing their enthusiasm for his message, and thereby offering people something weak and insipid instead, something short of the good news. If we begin to present only the easy parts of the good news, we risk offering something which does not deliver the fulness of life.
The second image is that of light. The life-giving challenge Jesus brings us is that we should allow our light to shine, but that it is the light given us by Christ. The true greatness of the Christian is to offer to others Jesus and all the hope he brings, by lives which are transparently good, full of salt and light.
Do we accept the fulness of the good news, or only the easy bits?
Do we allow our light to shine, or do we ‘hide it under a bushel’?
We ask for the courage to live the gospel to the full.
We pray for strength to witness to the truth of the gospel for those we meet.
Fr Adrian Graffy
The Baptism of the Lord, Second Sunday and Third Sunday (Year A) 8, 15, 22 January 2023
The Baptism of the Lord (Matthew 3:13-17)
This Feast brings the Christmas season to an end. Jesus, although he is sinless, wishes to undergo with the people the baptism of repentance. The baptism of Jesus by John is accompanied by a vision and a voice. Jesus sees the Spirit descend on him. The words addressed to Jesus echo the words of God in the first reading from the book of Isaiah. This passage is known as the first ‘Servant Song’. The baptism of Jesus is a clear expression of his will to stand alongside sinners in order to bring us the fulness of life. go against deeply felt ideas in order to do the will of God?
How has the celebration of the Christmas season inspired your faith and work?
Why did Jesus seek baptism from John?
We thank God for the incarnation, that the Son of God has taken on himself the joys and sorrows of the human condition.
We pray for fidelity and maturity in living out our own Christian calling to, be servants.
Second Sunday in Ordinary Time (John 1:29-34)
The evangelist, John the Baptist, is above all a witness. There is no detailed presentation of the baptism of Christ. Rather, the Baptist proclaims the abiding presence of the Spirit with Jesus. This evangelist is not interested in the self-abasement of Jesus in accepting baptism from John but focuses on the witness to Jesus given by the Baptist.
John points out Jesus with the words: ‘There is the Lamb of God!’ These words recall the Passover Lamb, slaughtered at the exodus from Egypt and year by year in the Jewish Passover feast. As the blood of the lamb was a sign of salvation for the Jews in Egypt, so the blood of Christ brings God’s salvation and freedom to those who accept him.
Do I accept Jesus as ‘ the Chosen One of God’?
How does the Fourth Evangelist present John the Baptist?
We pray with the Church: ‘Lamb of God, you take away the sins of the world. Have mercy on us’.
We pray for a united witness from Christians to the truth which Christ brings.
Third Sunday in Ordinary Time (Matthew 4:12-23)
We hear the evangelist’s summary of Jesus’ message: ‘Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is close at hand’. Matthew precedes this with a quotation from the Hebrew Scriptures, which he declares to be fulfilled. Jesus brings light not only to Israel but to the nations too, to all those who ‘live in darkness’.
From the very start he calls disciples. Galilee is the first location for the preaching of the good news and for the healings of Jesus, the place where the gospel is warmly welcomed.
Have I allowed Jesus to transform he darkness of my life?
Am I willing to leave everything and follow him?
We pray for renewed openness to hearing the gospel.
We pray for all disciples of the Lord. Fr Adrian Graffy
4 Sunday of Advent, Nativity of the Lord, Solemnity of Mary 18 and 25 December and 1 January 2023
Fourth Sunday of Advent (Matthew 1:18-24)
Like Mary, Joseph too had to listen for the message of God. Like Mary, he too was invited to play his part in the working out of God’s mysterious plan that the Son of God should become man. This gospel reading gives us the basis for our belief in the virginal conception of Jesus. The role of Mary as ‘virgin mother’ is quite unique, and Joseph has to go against his initial inclinations and make the decision to ‘take his wife to his home’.
In this reading we encounter the first of many verses which Matthew will quote from the Old Testament, declaring that they are ‘fulfilled’. The text at this Mass from the prophet Isaiah speaks of God’s constant solidarity with the people. The fulfilment of this same text, which is announced by Matthew in the gospel reading, points to something even greater, the extraordinary intervention of God to bring the Son of God into the world.
Am I like Joseph willing to go against deeply felt ideas in order to do the will of God?
Why would God desire that the saviour should be born by virginal conception?
Let us pray that we may welcome God’s new ways as we prepare for Christmas.
Let us pray for the people of Palestine and Israel that they may have peace.
The Nativity of the Lord (John 1:1-18
The opening words of the Gospel, according to John, known as the Prologue, offer a rich reflection on the mystery of the human birth of the Son of God. The evangelist refers to him as ‘the Word’, for God has finally spoken his fullest word to the human race. God having spoken at many times in the past ‘in the last days has spoken to us through his Son’. Jesus is referred to as ‘the Light’, for he brings truth and direction in our darkness. The darkness of sin and death cannot overcome the light of Christ. The Word will be rejected by many, but[power will be given to those who do accept him, to all those who believe in him. The feast of Christ’s birth invites us to renew that faith and welcome the Word of Light into our lives again.
Do I appreciate that the birth of Christ is God’s loving invitation to change my lie?
Do I welcome the Word of life and light into the sark corners of my life?
We pray that the feast of Christmas will bring many to reconsider the Christian message.
Let us open our hearts to the grace and truth of God.
The Solemnity of Mary, Mother of God (Luke 2:16-21)
The coming into a human life of the Son of God could only happen with the collaboration of Mary, this humble woman of Nazareth. God respects our human freedom, Mary was invited to work for God in this unique way. Her response to the invitation was a courageous and generous ‘yes’. Her fiat is a turning point in history, for it enables the Son of God to become a human being. Her fiat is an example to all those who, like Mary, endeavour to do the will of God be following Jesus.
As St Paul writes ‘at the appointed time god sent his Son, born of a woman’ in order to redeem us and offer us adoption as children of God. Our first reading, from the Book of Numbers, invokes God’s blessing on God’s people as the new year begins.
Do I appreciate the courage and love of |Mary and see her as an example?
Do I imitate Mary’s silence and her pondering of God’s goodness in her heart?
We pray that we may follow the example of Mary, the first servant of Jesus Christ, who listened for God’s word and responded with generosity.
We open our hearts to God at the beginning of a new year, that God may bless us and keep us day by day. Fr Adrian Graffy
First, Second and Third Sunday of Advent (Year A), 27 November, 4 and 11 December 2022
First Sunday of Advent (Matthew24:37-44)
A new liturgical year begins and the season of Advent starts. Traditionally we reflect on the final return of Christ, his ‘second coming’. The fundamental message here is to be ready at all times. The beauty of Advent lies in the sure hope that the Lord will come. In Advent we should examine our Christian response and style of life with honesty and make the changes that faith suggests so that we are indeed ready to meet the Lord.
Do I calculate how to reach salvation, or am I constantly ready to welcome the Lord?
What changes are required in the way I live the days of Advent and my Christian life?
Let us pray for trust, perseverance, and generosity on our journey.
Let us pray that the true sense of Advent and Christmas will be rediscovered in our society.
Second Sunday of Advent (Matthew 3:1-12
Today we are introduced to another great Advent figure, John the Baptist. For John, the love of God is not limited to the chosen race, and all men and women are called to produce good fruit.
John’s principal task is to point to the ‘one who follows me’. This one is more powerful and will bring a new baptism, in the Holy Spirit.
Do I listen out for the voice of the prophet crying in the wilderness of this world?
Do I rely on my ‘status’ as a Christian rather than striving to live as one?
Let us pray for true repentance.
Let us pray for courage in living and proclaiming God’s good news.
Third Sunday of Advent (Matthew 11:2-11)
The ministry of John the Baptist is now at an end. He is in prison, and martyrdom awaits him. He has doubts about Jesus being the Messiah. How can we explain this?
John expected the Messiah to bring retribution. John must learn that the way of Jesus is different; he brings healing and life, and good news for all.
The gospel challenges us to accept in our minds and hearts that the Son of God brings forgiveness, and that the only thing which can deny us salvation and eternal life is our own refusal to be forgiven and loved.
Am I willing to accept the good news of forgiveness for myself and others?
‘Happy are those who do not lose faith in me’. Do I trust the words of Jesus?
Let us pray for all those who consider themselves worthless and undeserving of love.
Let us pray for those whp preach a god of retribution that they may know God’s compassion.
Fr Adrian Graffy