February 2023: Seeing your life through the lens of the Gospel
5 February 2023: Matthew 5:13-16
1. Jesus uses the image of salt as something that makes food tasty. Without salt food can be tasteless. Who are the people who give zest to your life and make it enjoyable? For whom have you done this? When have you been particularly aware of your potential in this regard?
2. The second image is that of light. Who have been the people who have been a light for you, particularly in moments of darkness? For whom have you been a light? Recall these experiences and give thanks.
3. The images of salt and light can also be applied to communities to which we belong, a family, a parish, or other group. Thinking of the groups of which you are a member, how can their potential be enhanced to enrich the lives of members and offer them a guiding light? How can you make a contribution to this?
John Byrne OSA
Email jpbyrneosa@gmail.com
12 February 2023: Matthew 5:17-37
1. In this section of the Sermon on the Mount Jesus proposes standards that go beyond external ways of behaviour. He challenges our inner attitudes. When have you found that living out of inner conviction is more life-giving than keeping up appearances?
2. Jesus applies his teaching to feelings of anger and sexual desire. He suggests that if we do not keep an eye on our feelings and thoughts we will not be able to control our actions. Perhaps you have experienced the truth of this. What has helped you to integrate your feelings so that you were able to live in right relationship with yourself and others?
3. For Jesus, people with genuine authenticity do not need to swear an oath to be convincing. Their ‘yes’ or ‘no’ suffices. Recall people who had this kind of credibility for you. When have you found that your simple, direct and honest communication had a positive persuasive force?
4. In recent times public discourse sometimes has little respect for truth. What effect does this have on how you view politicians or other people in the public eye? What helps you to distinguish the truth from fake news?
John Byrne OSA
Email jpbyrneosa@gmail.com
19 February 2023: Matthew 5:38-48
1. Jesus tells us to act out of love and says that acting out of love is better than acting out of revenge. What does your experience tell you?
2. Perhaps you have at times hit back in revenge when you have been hurt or offended. What effect did this have 0n you, on others, and on your relationship with them? Contrast this with the times when you resisted the urge to retaliate. What outcome did this have on you, on others, and on your relationship with them … at the time, and in the long-term?
3. From other passages in the gospels it is clear that Jesus did not mean that we should ignore injustices, and never make a stand against others. What lessons have you learned in life on when, and how, to make a stand? What wisdom would you share with others from your experience?
John Byrne OSA
Email jpbyrneosa@gmail.com
26 February 2023: Matthew 4:1-11
1. In today’s gospel Jesus is enticed to gratify his own needs, or to perform some spectacular act in public. He rejects the temptation because he chooses commitment to his mission and to dependence on his Father over any immediate gratification. We can all be tempted to go for some immediate satisfaction, …. but is that where happiness lies? Have you found that sometimes there is more contentment in saying ‘no’ for the sake of some long-term goal? What are the goals, aims, values that inspire you in this way?
2. One way of looking at this gospel is to say that Jesus went into the desert to face his demons. We all have demons we need to face – compulsions, fears, prejudices, anger, and urges that lurk within. It is in facing our demons that we find a way to live a fuller life. Can you recall a time when you grew through facing a ‘demon’ in this way?
3. In one of her reflections Joyce Rupp describes Lent as a ‘time to rediscover lost treasures’. Is there something that once was a healthy part of your life and is no longer there: e.g., reading, exercise, mindfulness, prayer, socialising, fun? Would this Lent be a time to rediscover that lost treasure?
John Byrne OSA
Email jpbyrneosa@gmail.com