|
329 |
|
Second Sunday in Ordinary Time, Responsorial: Psalm 40:2, 4, 7-10 Response: Here I am, Lord! I come to do your will.
I waited, I waited for the Lord and he stooped down to me; he heard my cry. He put a new song into my mouth, praise of our God.
You do not ask for sacrifice and offerings, but an open ear. You do not ask for holocaust and victim. Instead, here am I.
In the scroll of the book it stands written that I should do your will. My God, I delight in your law in the depth of my heart.
Your justice I have proclaimed in the great assembly. My lips I have not sealed; you know it, O Lord. |
|
Second Sunday in Ordinary Time, Second Reading: Extracted from the first letter of Saint Paul to the Corinthians: 1 Corinthians 6:13-15,17-20 The body is not meant for fornication: it is for the Lord, and the Lord for the body. God, who raised the Lord from the dead, will by his power raise us up too. You know, surely, that your bodies are members making up the body of Christ; do you think I can take parts of Christ’s body and join them to the body of a prostitute? Never! But anyone who is joined to the Lord is one spirit with him. Keep away from fornication. All the other sins are committed outside the body; but to fornicate is to sin against your own body. Your body, you know, is the temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in you since you received him from God. You are not your own property; you have been bought and paid for. That is why you should use your body for the glory of God.
Gospel Acclamation 1Samuel 3:9, John 6:68 Alleluia, alleluia! Speak, Lord, your servant is listening: you have the message of eternal life. Alleluia! Or John 1:41,17 Alleluia, alleluia! We have found the Messiah – which means the Christ – grace and truth have come through him. Alleluia! |
|
Second Sunday in Ordinary Time, Gospel Reading: Extracted from the holy Gospel according to Saint John 1:35-42 As John stood with two of his disciples, Jesus passed, and John stared hard at him and said, ‘Look, there is the lamb of God.’ Hearing this, the two disciples followed Jesus. Jesus turned round, saw them following and said, ‘What do you want?’ They answered, ‘Rabbi,’ – which means Teacher –’where do you live?’ ‘Come and see’ he replied; so they went and saw where he lived, and stayed with him the rest of that day. It was about the tenth hour (4:00 pm). One of these two who became followers of Jesus after hearing what John had said was Andrew, the brother of Simon Peter. Early next morning, Andrew met his brother and said to him, ‘We have found the Messiah’ – which means the Christ – and he took Simon to Jesus. Jesus looked hard at him and said, ‘You are Simon son of John; you are to be called Cephas’ – meaning Rock.
Sharing: It was the 2nd Sunday in Ordinary Time on 18 January 2015.
The Readings that were read in the Eucharistic Celebrations all over the world on the same day are shown in the previous page and above:
1st Reading: Samuel 3:3-10, 19, Responsorial: Psalm 40:2, 4, 7-10, 2nd Reading: 1 Corinthians 6:13-15, 17-20 & Gospel Reading: John 1:35-42.
We have extracted the Homilies of Blessed Pope John Paul II, Pope Benedict XVI & Pope Francis I based on the aforesaid Readings to share with you, so that you could similarly be encouraged: |
|
This Sunday’s Liturgy of the Word presents the theme of vocation to us. It is described first of all in the first reading, taken from the First Book of Samuel. A short time ago we listened to the evocative story of the vocation of the prophet, whom God called by name, wakening him from his sleep. At first the young Samuel does not understand where this mysterious voice comes from. It is only later and gradually, and thanks to the explanation of the elderly priest, Eli, that he discovers that what he has heard is actually God's voice. So then he replies immediately: “Speak, for your servant is listening” (ibid., 3:10). We can say that Samuel’s call has a paradigmatic meaning, since it is the completion of a process that is repeated in every vocation. God's voice in fact is heard with increasing clarity and the subject gradually acquires an awareness of its divine origin. With time the person called by God learns to be increasingly open to God’s word, ready to listen and to do his will in his own life. - Saint Pope John Paul II |
|
MASS CELEBRATED AT THE ROMAN PARISH OF St MARY HOPE HOMILY OF POPE JOHN PAUL II Sunday, 19 January 1997
1. “The Lord called, ‘Samuel! Samuel!’ and he said, ‘Here I am!’?” (1 Samuel 3:4).
This Sunday’s Liturgy of the Word presents the theme of vocation to us. It is described first of all in the first reading, taken from the First Book of Samuel. A short time ago we listened to the evocative story of the vocation of the prophet, whom God called by name, wakening him from his sleep. At first the young Samuel does not understand where this mysterious voice comes from. It is only later and gradually, and thanks to the explanation of the elderly priest, Eli, that he discovers that what he has heard is actually God's voice. So then he replies immediately: “Speak, for your servant is listening” (ibid., 3:10).
We can say that Samuel’s call has a paradigmatic meaning, since it is the completion of a process that is repeated in every vocation. God's voice in fact is heard with increasing clarity and the subject gradually acquires an awareness of its divine origin. With time the person called by God learns to be increasingly open to God’s word, ready to listen and to do his will in his own life. 2. The account of Samuel’s vocation in the context of the Old Testament corresponds, in a certain sense, to what St John writes about the vocation of the Apostles. The first to be called was Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother. It was he who led his brother to Christ, telling him: “We have found the Messiah” (John 1:42). When Jesus saw Simon, he said to him: “‘So you are Simon, the son of John? You shall be called Cephas’ (which means Peter)” (ibid., 1:41).
In this brief but solemn description of the vocation of Jesus' disciples the theme of “searching” and “finding” is foremost. The attitude of the two brothers, Andrew and Simon, shows that desire for the fulfilment of the prophecies which was an essential part of Old Testament faith. Israel was waiting for the promised Messiah; he was sought more zealously after John the Baptist began to preach on the banks of the Jordan. The Baptist not only announced the imminent coming of the Messiah, but indicated his presence in the person of Jesus of Nazareth, who had come to the Jordan to be baptized. The call of the first Apostles took place precisely in this context, that is, it sprang from the Baptist's faith in the Messiah now present among the People of God.
Today’s responsorial psalm also speaks of the Messiah's coming into the world. This Sunday’s liturgy puts the words of the psalmist on Jesus' lips: “Lo, I come; in the roll of the book it is written of me ... to do your will” (Psalm 40 [39]:7-8). When the fullness of time had come, this presence of the Messiah announced by God in the prophetic books became a historical reality in the mystery of the Incarnation. Having only recently celebrated the Christmas season, a time of joy and festivity over the Saviour's birth, we all still have before our eyes and in our hearts the celebration of that fulfilment of the messianic prophecies on the night of Bethlehem. After the Christmas season, the liturgy now shows us the gradual beginning of Jesus' saving mission through the simple and direct accounts of the Apostles' vocation.
3. Dear brothers and sisters of the parish of St Mary of Hope, I am pleased to be with you today to celebrate the Eucharist on this Sunday which falls in the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity. I am sure that during these days, your parish will not fail to pray more insistently for this goal — Christian unity —which the Divine Redeemer has so much at heart.
I know that you have been waiting a long time for my Pastoral Visit. I greet you all with affection, starting with the Cardinal Vicar, Camillo Ruini, the Auxiliary Bishop of the area, Bishop Enzo Dieci, and Fr Juan Edmundo Vecchi, Rector Major of Salesians, whom we have the joy of having with us today. I also greet the parish priest, Fr Stelvio Tonnini, together with the parochial vicars and all the sons and daughters of Don Bosco, who have worked so generously in this community since its foundation.
My thoughts also turn to the Sisters of the Sacred Hearts, founded by Fr Variara, to the members of the various organizations of pastoral participation, to the representatives of the many active parish groups, to so many lay people involved in one way or another in the various activities of your parish.
You live in a large metropolitan area, where the problems might seem to be less serious than in other parts of Rome. However, here too people must daily face inconveniences, such as the problem of spending the whole day far from one’s own home, with negative consequences for family life and for forming true friendships in one's neighbourhood. In this context the parish, which is the only gathering place, has an important role. With its various and well-organized activities, it becomes a suitable place for a spiritual, formative, cultural and recreational journey for all. Your community now has a large and beautiful place of worship, strongly desired by all of you and, especially, by the late Rector Major of the Salesian Society, Fr Egidio Viganò, whom we remember with special affection in this Eucharist. Before the consecration of this church, which took place about a year ago, the parish was hosted for some years by the nearby Pontifical Salesian University. I thank those in charge and the teachers of the Salesian University not only for the hospitality they offered your parish community for many years, but also for the generous theological, pastoral and cultural service they offer the Diocese of Rome and the whole Church.
4. Dear brothers and sisters, during our meeting I have been able to observe how the pastoral care of young people, so important to St John Bosco, is given special attention in your parish. There are so many projects and paths offered to them, such as the Oratory-Youth Centre, which has 80 people of all ages on its formation staff, who give the whole parish community a note of liveliness and energy. I know that you are seriously preparing for the celebration of the great city mission. Only yesterday was the letter published, which I addressed to all Romans on Christmas Day to present them with the Gospel of Mark: it will also be given to every family in this community. In that letter I stressed how there is no news so surprising as that contained in the Gospel: “God himself — in Jesus —reached out to us personally; he became one of us; he was crucified and rose from the dead and calls us all to share in his life for ever”. I urge you to take this joyful news to those who are not with us here today; take it to all the boys and girls, to the families, people who are alone, the elderly and the sick. Offer everyone the Good News of the Gospel, so that, like the Apostle Andrew, they can say: “We have found the Messiah!” (John 1:41).
5. “Do you not know that your bodies are members of Christ?... Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you?” (1 Corinthians 6:15, 19). These words of the Apostle Paul to the Corinthians deserve special reflection, because they describe the Christian vocation. Yes, the Holy Spirit is present in each one of us, and we have received him from God. Therefore, we no longer belong to ourselves (cf. 1 Corinthians 6:19), because we have been bought “with a price” (cf. ibid., 6:23).
Paul wants to make the Corinthians, to whom his Letter is addressed, aware of this truth: man belongs to God, first of all because he is one of God’s creatures, but more especially because he was redeemed from sin through Christ. To become aware of this means to reach the very roots of every vocation.
This is true in the first place for the Christian vocation and, on this basis, it is true for every particular vocation: for the priesthood, the religious life, marriage, and indeed for every other vocation connected with various activities and professions such as that of the doctor, engineer, artist, teacher, etc. For a Christian all these special vocations have their foundation in the great mystery of the Redemption.
Continue next page …
22 February 2015 |