Sunday 20
January 2013
First reading
Isaiah
62:1-5
About Zion I will not be silent,
about Jerusalem I will not grow weary,
until her integrity shines out like the
dawn
and her salvation flames like a torch.
The nations then will see your
integrity,
all the kings your glory,
and you will be called by a new name,
one which the mouth of the Lord will
confer.
You are to be a crown of splendour in
the hand of the Lord,
a princely diadem in the hand of your
God;
no longer are you to be named
‘Forsaken’,
nor your land ‘Abandoned’,
but you shall be called ‘My Delight’
and your land ‘The Wedded’;
for the Lord takes delight in you
and your land will have its wedding.
Like a young man marrying a virgin,
so will the one who built you wed you,
and as the bridegroom rejoices in his
bride,
so will your God rejoice in you.
These are words of consolation
proclaimed by the prophet to the people as they languish in exile. God will
send salvation through Cyrus. The Jews are to take heart because God has chosen
them. He loves them and he will bless them as a people. The people did return
to Jerusalem in the year 538 BC.
However these blessings never
really materialised. Israel will reject the Messiah sent by God. They will have
Jesus crucified. God was not able to bless them, as he wanted.
This passage will now refer to
the New Israel, the new people of God. They are the Church founded by
Jesus. They refer first to the Church
and then to every member in the Church. In our life in Christ, they are fulfilled.
Each of us is “a princely diadem in the hand of your God.” You are neither
“Forsaken” nor “Abandoned”. “The Lord takes delight in you". As the
bridegroom rejoices in his bride, so will your God rejoice in you.
Psalm
Psalm
95:1-3,7-10
Proclaim the wonders of the Lord among
all the peoples.
O sing a new song to the Lord,
sing to the Lord all the earth.
O sing to the Lord, bless his name.
Proclaim the wonders of the Lord among
all the peoples.
Proclaim his help day by day,
tell among the nations his glory
and his wonders among all the peoples.
Proclaim the wonders of the Lord among
all the peoples.
Give the Lord, you families of peoples,
give the Lord glory and power;
give the Lord the glory of his name.
Proclaim the wonders of the Lord among
all the peoples.
Worship the Lord in his temple.
O earth, tremble before him.
Proclaim to the nations: ‘God is king.’
He will judge the peoples in fairness.
Proclaim the wonders of the Lord among
all the peoples.
____________________
Second reading
1
Corinthians 12:4-11
There is a variety of gifts but always
the same Spirit; there are all sorts of service to be done, but always to the
same Lord; working in all sorts of different ways in different people, it is
the same God who is working in all of them. The particular way in which the
Spirit is given to each person is for a good purpose. One may have the gift of
preaching with wisdom given him by the Spirit; another may have the gift of
preaching instruction given him by the same Spirit; and another the gift of
faith given by the same Spirit; another again the gift of healing, through this
one Spirit; one, the power of miracles; another, prophecy; another the gift of
recognising spirits; another the gift of tongues and another the ability to
interpret them. All these are the work of one and the same Spirit, who
distributes different gifts to different people just as he chooses.
When Jesus returned to the
Father, he sent another Paraclete – Advocate, Comforter, Helper, Teacher – to lead
and guide his Community. The church is animated and guided by the Holy Spirit.
In order that the Church flourish and fulfil its mission the Spirit gives gifts
to all the members. All the different gifts found in the members of the Church
come from the one Holy Spirit and for one purpose, viz. the building up of the
Church Community. Gifts in the community are not to be a cause of rivalry or jealousy.
Members are touse their gifts in harmony for the good of all.
Gospel
Acclamation
1S3:9,Jn6:68
Alleluia, alleluia!
Speak, Lord, your servant is listening:
you have the message of eternal life.
Alleluia!
Or
cf.2Th2:14
Alleluia, alleluia!
Through the Good News God called us
to share the glory of our Lord Jesus
Christ.
Alleluia!
____________________
Gospel
John
2:1-11
There was a wedding at Cana in Galilee.
The mother of Jesus was there, and Jesus and his disciples had also been
invited. When they ran out of wine, since the wine provided for the wedding was
all finished, the mother of Jesus said to him, ‘They have no wine.’ Jesus said
‘Woman, why turn to me? My hour has not come yet.’ His mother said to the
servants, ‘Do whatever he tells you.’ There were six stone water jars standing
there, meant for the ablutions that are customary among the Jews: each could
hold twenty or thirty gallons. Jesus said to the servants, ‘Fill the jars with
water’, and they filled them to the brim. ‘Draw some out now’ he told them ‘and
take it to the steward.’ They did this; the steward tasted the water, and it
had turned into wine. Having no idea where it came from – only the
servants who had drawn the water knew – the steward called the bridegroom
and said; ‘People generally serve the best wine first, and keep the cheaper
sort till the guests have had plenty to drink; but you have kept the best wine
till now.’
This
was the first of the signs given by Jesus: it was given at Cana in Galilee. He
let his glory be seen, and his disciples believed in him.
Jesus now is our Bridegroom. He
wants to be your Bridegroom and not like any other, you may have known. He
gives the best of wine. Life with him is beyond description. It is full of joy,
peace and happiness, even if full of difficulties and hardships.
Our religion is a marriage. It is
a marriage with Jesus. He chooses us first. We cannot choose him first.
Ephesians 1:3, 5:25-27. Baptism is our
public response to the choice of Jesus for us. He chooses us in love. We are to
respond in love and make him the centre of our life. This is what it means to be
a Christian. It is a life of love with Christ.
What does it mean in practice? I
must choose him as my Bridegroom. I must give my life to him. It good days and
bad, in sickness and in health till death unites us forever. I must give him
the best time of every day. I must spend time consciously with him. I must
learn about him from the Scriptures, but I must come to know him through my own
personal prayer to him. He will live me throughout the day and I can then live
a life of love and justice.
As a group of those who have
chosen Jesus, we are his Bride. We are to be one in love and service in Jesus.
Revelation 19.7
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