February Newsletter Resources
Fourth Sunday in Ordinary Time
3 February 2019
For Your Newsletter: Seeing your Life through the Lens of the Gospel
Luke 4:21-30
1. The people of Nazareth could not accept that this local boy had something to teach them. Fixed ideas about people can at times block us from hearing what is being said. What a difference when we drop our prejudices! Perhaps you have experienced hearing an important truth when you focussed on what was being said, rather than on the person saying it?
2. The anger of the people arose when Jesus confronted them with God’s inclusive ways. For them, God was ‘their God’ and God’s blessings were for them. Jesus reminded them that this is not God’s way. When have you been challenged to think in new ways and not to be excluding some people from your thoughts or concerns? Was there good news for you in the challenge?
3. Jesus continued his work despite the opposition. Have there been times when despite opposition you have been able to ‘walk through the people’ and ‘continue on your way’? Have you seen this courage in others.
The Deep End • Joseph’s son
A prophet is never welcome in his home town. This familiar saying paraphrases the words of Jesus in today’s Gospel: ‘I tell you solemnly, no prophet is ever accepted in his own country.’
We might find ourselves sympathising with Jesus on this front: that feeling that no matter what we have done in our adult life, in our homeplace we are still identified with the child we were or the family we came from. Sadly there are some who seem to delight in taking others down a peg or two and ensuring they don’t get ideas ‘above their station’.
Perhaps we ourselves have this tendency sometimes. We can be guilty of pigeonholing people, of silencing their voices because their message comes in the wrong package. We don’t always recognise the prophets among us. Do we listen to young people’s opinions? Do we dismiss the experience and wisdom of elderly people? Are we biased against certain groups of people, or do we shoot people down before they even speak, just because we have disagreed with something they said in the past?
Jesus, the carpenter’s son, faces this attitude in today’s Gospel. Returning home to Nazareth he impresses his former neighbours at first with his preaching. But as soon as he challenges them, they turn on him. They refuse to listen to his message of hope and inclusion. They hustle him out of town and attempt to throw him from a cliff. ‘Joseph’s son’ should not be speaking to them in this manner. Joseph’s son should know his place.
Tríona Doherty
Athlone, Co Roscommon
Email trionad@gmail.com
Fifth Sunday in Ordinary Time
10 February 2019
For Your Newsletter: Seeing your Life through the Lens of the Gospel
Luke 5:1-11
1. Jesus invites Peter to put out the net again, and Peter does so though he thinks it pointless. When have you felt it was pointless to stick with a task, but did so nonetheless and been surprised by results? We never know when our efforts are going to bear fruit.
2. ‘Push out into the deep.’ The invitation is to go out into unfamiliar waters, where we are not sure what will happen, where we feel uneasy and our safety is not assured. When have you responded positively to that kind of an invitation and got positive results you did not expect?
3. The story gives us a glimpse of what prepared the disciples to follow Jesus. They were helped by the compassion and concern of Jesus (who cured Peter’s mother-in-law); attracted by his work and teaching; and witnessed the power of God at work through him. This led them to ‘leave everything and follow him’. What has been the story of key decisions or turning points in your life? Who was Jesus for you in those situations?
John Byrne OSA
Email jpbyrneosa@gmail.com
The Deep End • Walking with the Lord
Last July and August, hundreds of people took part in ‘Walk While You Can’, a walk from Letterkenny, County Donegal to Ballydehob, County Cork, to raise awareness and funds to support those with Motor Neurone Disease. The event was the brainchild of Fr Tony Coote, a priest of the parishes of Kilmacud and Mount Merrion in Dublin, who made the decision to walk the length of Ireland after himself being diagnosed with MND. His boundless energy and zest for life, even in the face of terminal illness, struck a chord with many. People were inspired by his faith. Speaking during an interview on The Late Late Show, Fr Tony said: ‘I haven’t much time left, I know that. But I believe in a loving God; I don’t fear death.’
Fr Tony is an example of someone who is following Jesus as a disciple, while also bringing others to Jesus. In his years as a priest he has preached and lived the Gospel, and since this massive change in his health and circumstances he has found a way to spread the Good News in a new way.
His story came to mind as I reflected on today’s Gospel, which tells the story of the call of Peter. We are often struck by how the first disciples ‘left everything and followed him’. Are we expected to do the same? Only a rare few will literally leave behind home, friends and family. But following Jesus does require us to offer our whole selves, whatever our circumstances. Whatever our position in life, we have something unique and great to offer.
Tríona Doherty
Athlone, Co Roscommon
Email trionad@gmail.com
Sixth Sunday in Ordinary Time
17 February 2019
For Your Newsletter: Seeing your Life through the Lens of the Gospel
Luke 6:17, 20-26
1. We are told that Jesus ‘fixed his eyes on the disciples’ before speaking. This suggests that he was about to say something that he really wanted them to take in. Surprisingly he then tells them it is no bad thing for us to be poor or hungry. But perhaps you have recognised the truth in what St. Augustine said: ‘You have made us for yourself, O Lord, and our hearts are restless until they rest in you.’
2. ‘Blessed are you who weep’ is not an encouragement to be miserable. Rather it is an affirmation of the importance of loving relationships in life. We are blessed to have such people in our lives, but there may also be pain. Yet is it not true that the blessing of loving and being loved is worth the price you pay?
3. Jesus said that his followers would be open to opposition and ridicule because of him, and that they are blessed when this happens. Unpleasant it may, but have you not been grateful on those occasions when you had the courage to stand by something that you believed in?
John Byrne OSA
Email jpbyrneosa@gmail.com
The Deep End • How happy
What’s so great about being poor, or hungry, or sad? On the surface, these Beatitudes of Jesus seem very strange: ‘How happy are you who are poor’. Surely it is better to be wealthy, to be well fed, and to enjoy good times – or to at least be comfortable and content?
But Jesus is not interested in comfort, or in maintaining the status quo. The Jesus of Luke’s Gospel is something of a revolutionary. He has come to turn the social order on its head: last becomes first and least becomes greatest. His concern is always for the poor and marginalised.
Jesus’ vision is of a world where the unjust structures that cause poverty, hunger and oppression are swept away. Sadly, as we hear on the news every day, inequalities in our world with regard to wealth, education, health and opportunities remain as stark as ever. Speaking about how we can tackle injustice today, Pope Francis has offered six ‘new Beatitudes’ for the modern Christian. Like the teachings of Jesus, they remind us that the task of the Christian is to tackle injustice and to act in solidarity with those on the margins of society.
Pope Francis’ ‘new Beatitudes’ include:
Blessed are those who renounce their own comfort in order to help others. Blessed are those who look into the eyes of the abandoned and marginalised and show them their closeness. Blessed are those who protect and care for our common home.
Tríona Doherty
Athlone, Co Roscommon
Email trionad@gmail.com
Seventh Sunday in Ordinary Time
24 February 2019
For Your Newsletter: Seeing your Life through the Lens of the Gospel
Luke 6:27-38
1. Our natural tendency when attacked is to protect ourselves; when we are attacked, we attack
back. We respond to an angry word with another, or to a blow by hitting back. Here, Jesus suggests that at times there may be another way to act. What has been your experience of retaliation? Has it been life-giving? Have you experience of another way of acting?
2. When we do good to another, it can sometimes be in return for what we have received. At other times it can be done in the hope of getting something back. Or we may do it simply for the sake of doing good without any strings attached. Jesus suggests that this is when we are at our best. Recall your experience of these different ways of giving and celebrate the occasions when you gave without expectation of return.
3. Jesus proposes the generosity of God as a model for our generosity, and says that the generous will be rewarded. Perhaps you have experienced rewards, even in this life, from generous behaviour.
John Byrne OSA
Email jpbyrneosa@gmail.com
The Deep End • Freely giving
Lord, teach me to be generous, to serve you as you deserve, to give and not to count the cost, to fight and not to heed the wounds, to toil and not to seek for rest, to labour and not to seek reward, save that of knowing that I do your holy will.
The ‘Prayer for Generosity’, which many of us learned as children, is associated with St Ignatius Loyola, founder of the Jesuit Order, yet it is unclear whether he actually composed it. One of the earliest references to it comes from 1910, when it began to be used as a prayer for the French scouting movement. To this day it is often known as ‘The Scout Prayer’ and is used by many Scout groups as a blueprint for the work they do.
The prayer perfectly sums up the generous spirit of the many volunteer organisations and charities whose members give their time and energy so freely and generously to help others. There are thousands of volunteers all over our country who put love into action by visiting those who are lonely, listening to those who are struggling, providing food and other supplies for those in need, and fundraising for all sorts of worthy causes. Week in and week out, they give without ever counting the cost.
These volunteers are living the message of today’s Gospel, which can be summed up in one short sentence: Go the extra mile. Thank you, Lord, for volunteers. Make us ever more generous with our time, energy and resources. Help us to be compassionate, as you are compassionate.
Tríona Doherty
Athlone, Co Roscommon
Email trionad@gmail.com