Hearts Transformed by the Good News
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- Written by Kevin O'Reilly OP
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3rd Sunday of Ordinary Time
Luke 1:1-4, 4:14-21
In the introduction to his Gospel, Luke tells us that many had undertaken to write about the Christ-event on that basis of what was “handed down … by those who from the outset were eyewitnesses and ministers of the word.” The idea of “handing down” could also be translated as “tradition”: the Latin word from which we get “tradition” means precisely this: “handing down.”
What others before Luke recorded and what Luke in turn has written down came to them through Tradition from those who were the first to witness and to minister the word. Luke’s Gospel and indeed all Scripture is the work of Tradition while Tradition in its turn, as Vatican II tells us, “transmits in its entirety the Word of God which has been entrusted to the apostles by Christ the Lord and the Holy Spirit (Dei Verbum 9).
Mary Our Mother
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- Written by Paul Hughes OP
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2nd Sunday of Ordinary Time
John 2:1-11
The wedding feast at Cana is the event portrayed in this Sunday’s Gospel. Last week was the feast of the Baptism of the Lord and the Church has chosen to bring our attention to the wedding feast of Cana one week later. In order to understand why, we need to think a bit about why Jesus told John to baptise Him. John the Baptist rightly says that he is not worthy to do so, not even to undo the straps of Jesus’ sandals. But Jesus tells him to do it anyway. He is beginning to show Himself as our Saviour. In the Baptism in the Jordan, Jesus is symbolising the reality that He is going to offer Himself to the Father in the place of Humanity. In Baptism water is used to symbolise cleansing, which is one way to begin to understand redemption. Jesus then in being baptised is showing us that He will be our redeemer.
To Preach Jesus
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- Written by Eoin Casey OP
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Feast of the Epiphany
Matthew 2:1-12
The front piece on the altar of the tomb of St. Dominic in Bologna, Italy is of the Epiphany. At first this can strike one as strange, a scene from the Christmas story on the tomb of a dead man. But it is there to recall the reason St. Dominic founded the Order of Preachers. Then Dominican Order’s mission is to preach Jesus as the Truth coming into the world and He is for all peoples.
The feast we celebrate on January 6th reminds us that when Our Blessed Lord was born, the Good News of His Birth was not just for the few who actually visited the stable; it was not just for those in Bethlehem or only for the Jews but Christ is for all peoples. These three kings from a foreign country represent all of us coming to find Jesus. No one is excluded from coming to Christ and receiving his love. As Pope Benedict XVI says in his recent book when speaking of the Magi: “In this sense, these figures are forerunners, preparers of the way, seekers after truth, such as we find in every age”.
Jesus The Beloved Son
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- Written by Br Alan Hopkins OP
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The Baptism of the Lord
Luke 3:15-16, 21-22
In today’s Gospel, the people are waiting with expectation of the coming of the Messiah. John is the focus point for the people. They believe that it is he who is the One. John knows differently he has spent his ministry preparing the way for the Christ and bringing people to knowledge of the Christ. The One who is to come is much more powerful than John, as He baptises with the Holy Spirit.
Jesus like everyone else waits in line to be baptised by John. John recognises him as the One. By his waiting in line Jesus shows that he has taken his place among the history of humanity with its joys, the sorrows, and the pressure and the emotions of humanity. He enters truly into the depths of humanity and fully takes on all that humanity has to offer.
Mary the Mother of God
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- Written by Daragh McNally OP
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