Ash Wednesday

  1.     From Fr. Tony Kadavil’s Collection 

Introduction

Ash Wednesday (dies cinerum) is the Church’s Yom Kippur or the “Day of Atonement.” Its very name comes from the Jewish practice of doing penance wearing “sackcloth and ashes.” In the early Church, Christians who had committed serious sins were instructed to do public penance wearing sackcloth and ashes. Ash Wednesday and Good Friday are days of full fast and abstinence. Fasting is prescribed to reinforce our penitential prayer during the Lenten season. The prophet Joel, in the first reading, insists that we should experience a complete conversion of heart and not simply sorrow for our sins. Saint Paul in the second reading advises us “to become reconciled to God.” Today’s gospel instructs us to assimilate the true spirit of fasting and prayer.

5 Sunday C: You'll be Catchers of People

7th february 5th sunday 2016 from StJohnVianneyWestgreen

Michel DeVerteuil
General comments

The miraculous catch of fish was a historical event in the life of Jesus, but also a symbol of the deep conversion experiences which God grants us from time to time and which set us on a new course in our lives. These  experiences usually occur at times when we feel we are stagnating – as spouses, parents, friends, church leaders, ministers, or managers in the work place.

4 Sunday C: Wanted: Prophets, Dead

Prophets comfort the disturbed and disturb the comfortable
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Michel DeVerteuil General comments
The incident related in today’s gospel story is a precious moment of grace for the people of Nazareth, one that we too experience from time to time – Jesus invites them and us to stop hiding behind their false identity and come to the truth of themselves.
We all need to feel special; the problem is how we go about fulfilling that need. The easy – but false – way is to take the short cut of finding our “specialness” in belonging to a group that considers itself superior to others. We find our “specialness” in our sex, race, colour, ethnic origin, nationality, or from the fact that we are married, are “old boys” or “old girls” of some school, university graduates, have a job, or own our homes.

3 Sunday C: Jesus' Mission

3rd Advent C from Padir Neylu

From Catholic Ireland:


Michel DeVerteuil General comments
The reflection below is on the second part of the reading – verses 16 to 21 –a story of how Jesus read the Bible and how he wants us his followers to read it (and teach it).

A true story, happened in 1892 at Stanford University

Herbert Hoover & Paderewski

  A true story, happened in 1892 at Stanford University:

 …most of us only think “If I help them, what would happen to me?” The truly great people think, “If I don’t help them, what will happen to them?”

 

 An 18-year-old student was struggling to pay his fees. He was an orphan, and not knowing where to turn for money, he came up with a bright idea. He and a friend decided to host a musical concert on campus to raise money for their education.

They reached out to the great pianist Ignacy J. Paderewski. His manager demanded a guaranteed fee of $2000 for the piano recital. A deal was struck and the boys began to work to make the concert a success.

Man Reunites with a Cheetah after 1 Year

2 Sunday C - Wedding at Cana

Michel DeVerteuil Textual Comments
Sunday in the liturgy is always “the first day of the week,” so since Ordinary Time starts on the Monday after the Epiphany, this Sunday is called the Second Sunday of Ordinary Time. We might expect to start immediately with the continuous reading from the Synoptic Gospel for the year, which characterizes Ordinary Time. However, liturgical custom dictates otherwise: on this Sunday each year we meditate on a passage from the first chapters of St John’s gospel. It is as if the Church is reluctant to say farewell to the Christmas season – or perhaps reluctant to leave St John, since we have been reading from his gospel on the weekdays of Christmas.
On this Sunday of Year C we read the story of the Wedding Feast of Cana. As always with readings from St John, we take for granted that the passage is deeply symbolical, and so we can be very creative in our interpretation. By calling Jesus’ action a “sign” – the word this gospel always uses to refer to his miracles – the text invites us to see it as a living lesson leading us to understand God’s saving work in Jesus.
We celebrate God’s work from two points of view: as its beneficiaries, and as those called to collaborate with him in bringing it to fulfillment.

Jesus, the Light of the World:: Jn 1:1-18

Gospel reading: John 1:1-18



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We have Four commentators available from whom you may wish to choose .
th the Sunday Gospels liturgical Resources for the year of Matthew
               Studied scripture in Rome, Jerusalem and Chicago and teaches at Blackrock College and works with Le Chéile

Baptism of the Lord

Introduction: 

Wash Off the Stuff of the Day: 

One of the most successful and personable people on television is Oprah Winfrey. Movies, book clubs, she does it all. Huge business operations. While all the other talk shows on television are tearing people apart and putting all their illnesses out for public humiliation, Oprah is helping put people and families back together again. . . In a Newsweek magazine interview the interviewer asked her, "How do you separate yourself from work?" Answer, "I take a hot bath. . . My bath is my sanctuary. (Listen to this) It's the place where I can wash off all the stuff of the day" ((Jan 8, 2001, p. 45).

Epiphany: Manifestation of the Lord

Epiphany B from Padir Neylu

 
Story: A husband asked his wife, "Why would God give the wise men a star to guide them?" She replied, "Because God knows men are too proud to ask directions."