Posted by RENEW | Filed under RENEW prayers | Dec 8, 2019 No Comments »

 
Adapted from Waiting With Joy: Weekly Reflections on the Sunday Readings, Advent, Year A, by Sr. Donna Ciangio, OP; © RENEW International.

Posted by Bill Ayres | Filed under Hear the Word! by Bill Ayres | Dec 6, 2019 No Comments »

A reading from the Book of the prophet Isaiah
(Chapter 11:1-10)
 
The prophets of Israel preached several massages, some hopeful and some judgmental, but all to awaken the people of Israel during hard times and give them courage. Here, Isaiah talks about a new leader, a future king. “The spirit of the Lord shall rest upon him: a spirit of wisdom and understanding, a spirit of counsel and strength, a spirit of knowledge and fear of the Lord…. Not by appearance shall he judge, nor by hearsay shall he decide, but he shall judge the poor with justice, and decide aright for the land’s afflicted. Justice shall be the band upon his waist, and faithfulness a belt upon his hips. Then the wolf shall be the guest of the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with the kid, and the calf and the lion shall browse together, with a little child to guide them.”
 
The kings that followed the greatest king, David, were far from the image Isaiah presents. They led their country poorly, so Isaiah wants to give the people some hope. We believe that this promised new ruler is Jesus, the Christ, and we place our hope in him.
 
Responsorial Psalm
(Psalm 72:1-2, 7-8, 12-13, 17)
 
The psalmist gives us the qualities of a true leader: “Justice shall flourish in his time, and fullness of peace forever.” The psalmist gives us the qualities of a true leader. Would that that were always the case.
 
A reading from the Letter of Saint Paul to the Romans
(Chapter 15:4-9)
 
Paul is writing for both Jews and gentiles who followed Jesus, knowing that these groups did not always get along. “May the God of endurance and encouragement grant you to think in harmony with one another, in keeping with Christ Jesus, that with one accord you may with one voice glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. Welcome one another, then, as Christ welcomed you, for the glory of God.”
 
Throughout history, there have been differences of opinion among us Christians even to the point that large groups broke away from the Church and formed new denominations. We live in a time of divisions between the old order and emerging challenges in which, not doctrine but rather rules and traditions are being questioned. In this atmosphere, we need to keep focused on what Jesus himself preached and practiced, loving God and one another. That has not changed in two thousand years, nor will it ever.
 
A reading from the holy Gospel according to Matthew
(Chapter 3:1-12)
 
“John the Baptist appeared preaching in the desert of Judea and saying, ‘Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand…. It was of him that the prophet Isaiah had spoken when he said, ‘A voice crying out in the desert, prepare the way of the Lord, make straight his paths.”
John must have been a sight to behold. He “wore clothing made of camel hair and had a leather belt around his waist. His food was locusts and wild honey. At that time Jerusalem, all Judea, and the whole region around the Jordan were going out to him and were being baptized by him in the Jordan River as they acknowledged their sins.”
 
But John was not fooled by the hypocrisy of many of the Pharisees and Sadducees who were coming for baptism. He said to them, “You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the coming wrath? And do not presume to say to yourselves ‘We have Abraham as our father.’ For I tell you, God can raise up children to Abraham from these stones…. I am baptizing you with water, for repentance, but the one who is coming after me is mightier than I. I am not worthy to carry his sandals. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire.”
 
John knew his role in life. As popular as he was, he knew that he was to prepare the way for Jesus, not be the message himself. His mission, his very life, was short but absolutely essential for the mission of Jesus. Each of us also has a role to play in the living and sharing of our faith. We too are not the message, but we are the messengers.
 
Excerpts from the English translation of the Lectionary for Mass © 1969, 1981, 1997, International Commission on English in the Liturgy Corporation (ICEL). All rights reserved.
 
Bill Ayres was a founder, with the late singer Harry Chapin, of WhyHunger. He has been a radio and TV broadcaster for 40 years and has two weekly Sunday-night shows on WPLJ, 95.5 FM in New York. He is a member of Our Lady Queen of Martyrs Church in Centerport, New York.

Posted by RENEW | Filed under RENEW prayers | Dec 1, 2019 No Comments »

 
Adapted from Waiting With Joy: Weekly Reflections on the Sunday Readings, Advent, Year A, by Sr. Donna Ciangio, OP; © RENEW International.

Posted by Bill Ayres | Filed under Hear the Word! by Bill Ayres | Nov 29, 2019 No Comments »

A reading from the Book of the prophet Isaiah
(Chapter Chapter 2:1-5)
 
“In days to come the mountain of the Lord’s house shall be established as the highest mountain and raised above the hills….For from Zion shall go forth instruction and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem. He shall judge between the nations, and impose terms on many peoples.”
 
The two important points here are that God will “judge between the nations” and that God’s word comes “from Jerusalem.” What is God’s word to the nations? “They shall beat their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks; one nation shall not raise the sword against another, nor shall they train for war again.” If they do these things, they will “walk in the light of the Lord.”
 
If only nations had obeyed this command, millions of innocent people would not have been killed right up to today. Jesus himself preached and lived non-violence as should we in our own lives.
 
Responsorial Psalm
(Psalm 122:1-2, 3-4, 4-5, 6-7, 8-9)
 
“Let us go rejoicing to the house of the Lord.” Have you come to the house of the Lord today rejoicing? Or, is it simply a matter of habit or obligation?
 
A reading from the Letter of Saint Paul to the Romans
(Chapter 13:11-14)
 
Paul tells the Romans, “For our salvation is nearer now than when we first believed; the night is advanced, the day is at hand. Let us then throw off the works of darkness and put on the armor of light, let us conduct ourselves properly as in the day, not in orgies and drunkenness, not in promiscuity and lust, not in rivalry and jealousy. But put on the Lord Jesus Christ.”
 
Paul knows that he will be killed and so he wants to let the Romans to know how important it is for them to stay the course and not fall into bad habits that were rampant throughout the city. Of course, the same holds true for we who live in an age that is all too prone to excuse these same excesses.
 
A reading from the holy Gospel according to Matthew
(Chapter 24:37-44)
 
After Jesus died there was a belief that he would come back again on the last day. But when? Matthew wants to tell people to “Stay awake! For you do not know on what day your Lord will come. Be sure of this: if the master of the house had known the hour of night when the thief was coming, he would have stayed awake and not let his house be broken into. So too, you must also be prepared, for at an hour you do not expect, the Son of Man will come.”
 
This belief that Jesus would come back, perhaps in their lifetime and that the world would then end was very popular among Christians in the decades after the death of Jesus. It was intensified by the constant threat of prison and execution at the hands of the Romans. Even today, there are sects of Christianity that believe that the world will end soon, and Jesus will return. They go up to a mountain or some other remote place and wait, and wait until it becomes apparent that the time is not now.
 
We have no idea when the world as we know it will end, but we do know that our lives here on earth will end at our death. We know not the day or the hour, but we pray for a long and healthy life and then, even more important, a new resurrected life forever with Jesus.
 
Excerpts from the English translation of the Lectionary for Mass © 1969, 1981, 1997, International Commission on English in the Liturgy Corporation (ICEL). All rights reserved.
 
Bill Ayres was a founder, with the late singer Harry Chapin, of WhyHunger. He has been a radio and TV broadcaster for 40 years and has two weekly Sunday-night shows on WPLJ, 95.5 FM in New York. He is a member of Our Lady Queen of Martyrs Church in Centerport, New York.

Posted by RENEW | Filed under RENEW prayers | Nov 24, 2019 No Comments »

 
Adapted from The People’s Prayer Book, © RENEW International.