Readings in January/February 2010
January & February 2010
In the next two months we move from the season of Christmas and its focus on the Incarnation, into Lent, with its focus on preparing to celebrate the Passion and Resurrection of the Lord.
Friday 1 January
The Mother of God
Numbers 6.22-27
Psalm 66; Galatians 4.4-7; Luke 2.16-21
This is the oldest feast of Mary in the western Church, and concludes the octave of the celebration of Christmas. The Church celebrates various feasts of Our Lady across the year, but this has a particular significance as it recalls the Council of Ephesus of 481 which designated Mary with the sublime title of Theotokos – God-bearer. The title Mother of God is not only the most solemn, but also makes the important point that Mary’s role in the Church is always (and only) in her relation to the Christ, the Word made Flesh. The readings today pick up the blessing of which we are all beneficiaries: the ceremonial blessing formula given to Moses for use among God’s people from the Book of Numbers; the blessing that makes us children of God in Paul’s letter to the Galatians; and the blessing which is the birth of the Christ child that Mary ponders in her heart in the Gospel.
Saturday 2 January
SS Basil and Gregory Nazianzen
1 John 2.22-28; Psalm 97; John 1.19-28
For the next week we continue with a series of readings from the first letter of St John which we began just after Christmas. The fact that the gospel readings will be from differing evangelists, while the first reading is consistent, deserves note. The reality of I John reveals sadness – already, even within the community of the author of the gospel that speaks of the ‘beloved disciple’ division has occurred. Much of the letter is concerned to confirm the faith that Jesus has come in the flesh and that those who follow him must live authentically as he has done. Time and again in this letter the author will distinguish between those who truly follow the light and those who have gone into the darkness.
Monday 4 January
1 John 3.22-4.6; Psalm 2; Matthew 4.12-17, 23-25
The reading from the letter of John emphasises the importance of ‘doing’ as opposed to simply ‘believing.’ It is not enough just to believe that Jesus has come in the Flesh, his followers must love one another too. The references to Antichrist and false prophets reveal a community that is beset with challenges from outside (and within perhaps). The rule the author gives his people is not subtle; ‘those who know God listen to us.’ It is his own authority that he puts forward as a criterion. This is the constant refrain of the appeal to Christian tradition – which Paul describes in terms of what has been handed on. In the face of division, and with novelties introduced into an understanding of faith in Jesus, the call is to be faithful to what has been received and to those who hold and teach that tradition.
When Matthew recounts the beginning of Jesus’ ministry he does so with a prophecy of Isaiah. Just as Matthew’s infancy narrative rooted the birth of the Christ in salvation history with Old Testament quotations, so the beginning of his ministry is placed in a similar context; the proclamation of the kingdom is not a local event, but will be seen as the summation of that salvation history.
Tuesday 5 January
1 John 4.7-10; Psalm 71; Mark 6.34-44
A short but sublime passage from 1 John gives much food for contemplation. In the Christian community love is the ultimate revelation of God, and indeed is the very presence of God within the community. But above all it is John’s closing sentence that should hold the reader – our love may be important, but the origin of that, and indeed the origin of all communion with God is always initiated by God’s love. It is only because God has loved us, that we can love, indeed that we can exist at all.
In giving us Mark’s account of the feeding of the five thousand today, the compilers of the lectionary take us into the heart of Jesus’ ministry. Jesus feels pity for the crowd who are like sheep without a shepherd, so he feeds them with his teaching. Similarly he feels pity for them in their hunger and so feeds their bodies also. In this season where we celebrate God made manifest, Jesus is revealed as the active compassion of God.
Wednesday 6 January
1 John 4.11-18; Psalm 71, Mark 6.45-52
Words of extraordinary power and hope: ‘Fear is driven out by perfect love.’ In Jesus we believe that God has come amongst us and been made visible. Through him we receive God’s perfect love which enables us to live lives of love. That, says John, is the message we have received, it is the gift of the Spirit, and the love which we receive as God dwells in us. This is a passage that can raise our minds and hearts to the inexhaustible mystery of God as shown in the love of Jesus.
In the gospel it is the power of Jesus that is revealed. Despite the feeding of the thousands and the walking on the water the disciples fail to understand who Jesus is – for Mark there is no real ‘epiphany’ before Jesus is revealed as Son of God on the cross of Calvary.
Thursday 7 January
1 John 4.19-5.4; Psalm 71; Luke 4.14-22
In reading John’s first letter we can sometimes feel uncomfortable because John can make faith sound so lofty – so caught up in the language of the love of God and of being begotten by the Father – that it can (and has throughout history) been used to excuse all sorts of abstract ‘mystical’ living. To do that is to ignore something utterly practical that John uses here as a foundation for morality: ‘Anyone who says I love God and hates his brother is a liar.’ Love of God can seem very elevated, love of brother and sister can never be anything other than practical.
Luke recounts the story of Jesus in Nazara where he had been brought up. This story is a little epiphany – it is a manifestation of who Jesus is: the Christ (the anointed of the Lord, as designated in the prophecy of Isaiah), and the crowd give astonished approval to his gracious words.
Friday 8 January
1 John 5.5-13; Psalm 147; Luke 5.12-16
Most scripture scholars see a very close link between the gospel of John and the first letter of John. One of the reasons is the very consistent vocabulary, images and themes of both. The gospel of John is full of legal language – witnesses, advocates, judgement, testimony and so forth. In today’s reading the spirit, the water and the blood all bear witness to Jesus as Son of God. The meaning of these few words is much debated, but it is worth noting that in John’s gospel, as Jesus dies on the cross, it is recorded that Jesus handed over his spirit. After that his side is pierced and blood and water flow out. The blood and water were taken by the Church Fathers to be signs of eucharist and baptism. The life-giving sacrifice of Jesus on the cross enabled the Spirit to be given and so for his followers to have life.
There is something very encouraging in the exchange of Jesus and the leper: ‘If you want to, you can cure me. Of course I want to! Be cured!’ for Luke’s Jesus, curing can never be simply a sign of power, or a show of might, it is also what Jesus wants to do. Jesus is not detached from human suffering and struggle – he is actively involved in the struggle by desire. It is also worth noting that, typical of Luke, the Jesus who heals and is involved in human lives is the Jesus who also needs to go apart to pray.
Saturday 9 January
1 John 5.14-21; Psalm 149; John 3.22-30
It would be easy to be sidetracked in today’s first reading by the idea of a sin which is death. In the context of this letter of John, the meaning is almost certainly apostasy, as the author throughout is pre-occupied with those who have abandoned the community for other versions of belief. What is helpful here is the knowledge that we are to pray for one another and God will give life to sinners through the intercession of believers. This is Good News indeed, and encourages us in our prayer – especially for those who seemed to have strayed; it also touches on Catholic teaching on the role of intercession of the saints.
John the Baptist features prominently in all the gospels, and yet all have various ways of ensuring that John is never seen as a potential rival to Jesus. We know – even from the scriptures – that followers of John continued as a separate religious group well into the Christian era. John the Evangelist always glosses the Baptist’s appearances with statements that make clear the relationship. Here Jesus is the bridegroom, John only the bridegroom’s friend, and to make it clear: ‘He must grow greater, I must grow smaller.’
1st and 2nd Samuel
Over the next few weeks we have a long series of readings from the two books of Samuel. Many of the themes of disorder and divine intervention characteristic of the immediately preceding book of Judges dominate the early stories of the prophet Samuel and Saul the king. The long development of the character and career of David, the consummate politician and leader, the anointed one, whose last poignant years close the second book, is a masterpiece of story telling as David is revealed as a truly three dimensional figure, a truly human hero with feet of clay. The books of Samuel form the history of the transition of Israel from being a tribal confederation that takes over the land of Canaan, to the centralised monarchy that has a clear identity as the people of God, ruled over by the Lord’s anointed. Much of the language and ideas associated with this period – above all in the Psalms attributed to David – have been adopted into Christian vocabulary and understanding.
First week of Ordinary Time (C)
Monday 11 January
1 Samuel 1.1-8; Psalm 115; Mark 1.14-20
Today we return to ordinary time after six weeks of special readings and begin a long period of reading from the Books of Samuel. We heard part of the story of Hannah and the miraculous birth of her son, Samuel, at the very end of Advent. It is one of those Old Testament stories which point very clearly to the significance of the birth of a child to a barren mother. It is worth considering the painful situation of Hannah so long ago when at the current time we hear much of the struggle of the family life and the loss of family values. It would seem that there is no warranty in scripture to suggest that it has not ever been thus.
As we begin the ordinary weeks of the year, the gospel reading is the beginning of Mark – and it begins with the starting point of all Christian proclamation – the announcement that the Kingdom is near and the call to follow the Lord.
Tuesday 12 January
1 Samuel 1.9-20; Canticle 1 Samuel 2.1, 4-8; Mark 1.21-28
To compound her sadness and miserable state, Hannah’s prayer before the Lord is interpreted as drunkenness by Eli the priest who scolds her. Hannah however, has made her vow and offered her child for the service of the Lord. The writer emphasises the solemnity of her vow, as well as the intensity of her prayer. Once he has recognised his error, Eli gives her his blessing, and the Lord does indeed bless her by fulfilling her desire. The attention given to this scene and the great range of emotions and the perceptions of the protagonists leave us in no doubt but that this child is destined for great things as the servant of the Lord.
The gospel too points to a future destiny. It is the unclean spirits who recognise who Jesus is, and state it explicitly. Typically in Mark, the crowd are less perceptive, but they too recognise the authority with which Jesus speaks.