Parish of Our Lady & Saint David, Cwmbran

“The Son of Man will be delivered. If anyone wants to be first,
he must make himself servant of all.”

The tone of the Gospel begins to grow darker: Jesus is now on his way to Jerusalem, where he will be arrested and killed. Despite this, both this week and next week, there is a lighter contrast in the children that Jesus welcomes and blesses. Perhaps this tells us something about Jesus and his mission: despite the gathering clouds, (and possibly even because of that) he is still the manifestation of God’s love for all his children, a love that will be most clearly displayed when he faces that death for our sake. There is one quite chilling phrase which links these together, in the first reading, where the plotters against the good man say “Let us test him with cruelty and torture, and thus explore this gentleness of his.” The cold calculation of this is not far removed from the plotting of those who saw in Jesus a threat to their positions ‑ with all his purity of worship and faith, with all his “reproaches for our breaches of the law”. There is indeed a storm gathering. But the last line of the first reading, though meant mockingly, will come true: “God will look after him ‑ we have his word for it.” And three days after his death he will rise again.

PSALM

O God, save me by your name; by your power, uphold my cause. O God, hear my prayer; listen to the words of my mouth. For proud men have risen against me, ruthless men seek my life. They have no regard for God. But I have God for my help. The Lord upholds my life. I will sacrifice to you with willing heart and praise your name for it is good.

First Reading: Wisdom 2:12, 17-20

Second Reading: Js 3: 16—4:3

Gospel Reading: Mark 9: 30-37

25th Sunday of Ordinary Time 2015 Newsletter

“You are the Christ.” “The Son of Man is destined to suffer grievously.”

As we follow through the Gospel of Saint Mark we come to an important turning point this week: after the preaching, the miracles and the journey so far, Simon Peter publicly recognises Jesus as the Messiah. But there is an important point, which is brought out by the choice of first reading today: this Messiah is a king who is destined to be rejected and killed. Jesus knows this very well, and rebukes Peter when he tries to lead him on a different path. From this point on, Saint Mark’s Gospel leads to the cross: Jesus himself accepts his own cross, and reminds all his followers that the cross is a part of following him.  If we are considering the question ”Who is Jesus?”, these scripture passages give us a deep insight into the mission of salvation that he accepts for us.

PSALM

I love the Lord for he has heard the cry of my appeal; for he turned his ear to me in the day when I called him. They surrounded me, the snares of death, with the anguish of the tomb; they caught me, sorrow and distress. I called on the Lord’s name. O Lord my God, deliver me! How gracious is the Lord, and just; our God has compassion. The Lord protects the simple hearts; I was helpless so he saved me.   He has kept my soul from death, my eyes from tears and my feet from stumbling. I will walk in the presence of the Lord in the land of the living

First Reading: Isaiah 50: 5-9

Second Reading: Js 2: 14-18

Gospel Reading: Mark 8: 27-35

24th Sunday of Ordinary Time 2015 Newsletter

“He makes the deaf hear and the dumb speak.”

What shows us the presence of God? In the Biblical world it was miracles ‑ signs, which pointed towards the emergence of a new Kingdom, the Kingdom of God. This had been prophesied from of old: it was said that One would come, and also that certain things would be associated with this Messiah which would display the perfection of the Kingdom God wanted to establish. Jesus, in both his preaching and his mira­cles, proclaims that the Kingdom of God is at hand, in his own person. He fulfils the prophe­cies of the past, as he displays to the people of his own time, and to us, the nature of Gods Kingdom: in it all diseases and afflictions are abolished: so opening the man’s ears and eyes tells us two things: first that Jesus is God, present in our midst, and secondly that he calls us into a Kingdom where all is perfect.

Psalm

It is the Lord who keeps faith for ever, who is just to those who are oppressed. It is he who gives bread to the hungry, the Lord, who sets prisoners free. It is the Lord who gives sight to the blind, who raises up those who are bowed down, the Lord who loves the just, the Lord, who protects the stranger. The Lord upholds the widow and orphan, but thwarts the path of the wicked. The Lord will reign for ever, Zion’s God, from age to age

First Reading: Isaiah 35:4-7

Second Reading: Js 2: 1-5

Gospel Reading: Mark 7:31-37

23rd Sunday of Ordinary Time 2015 Newsletter

“You put aside the commandment of God to cling to human traditions.”

We now return to Saint Mark, for the rest of the year. The Gospel brings out one of the central problems of all religion: the way in which peripheral laws and customs gradually take over the more fundamental command­ments, and the way in which “externalism” and a concern with superficialities gradually suffocates a true “internal” faith which is lived out. Here we see the angry Jesus: he calls them “hypocrites”, as he condemns their “worthless worship”. He teaches a central truth: it is what comes from within that determines whether we are clean or unclean, good or evil. The com­mandments of God, which Moses puts before the people with such great pride, become the source of justice when they are given a place in the heart. When other rules and regulations about how to wash and what to eat displace them, then they are stifled and justice is practised no longer.

PSALM

Lord, who shall dwell on your holy mountain? He who walks without fault, he who acts with justice and speaks the truth from his heart. He who does no wrong to his brother, who casts no slur on his neighbour, who holds the godless in disdain, but honours those who fear the Lord. He who keeps his pledge, come what may; who takes no interest on a loan and accepts no bribes against the innocent. Such a man will stand firm for ever.

Alleluia, alleluia! Your words are spirit, Lord, and they are life: you have the message of eternal life. Alleluia!

First Reading: Deut 4:1-2,6-8

Second Reading: Js 1:17-18, 21-22,27

Gospel Reading: Mark 7:12-8,14-15,21-23

22nd Sunday of Ordinary Time 2015 Newsletter

“Whom shall we go to? You have the message of eternal life.”

Failure, rejection and isolation: these are the themes of today’s remarkable Gospel ‑ but they are not all. In the face of them we see persever­ance, fidelity and trust. Above all there is an adherence to the truth that is truly amazing. Jesus speaks the truth to all who will listen, and if they find that truth “intolerable” they are free to leave, just as they are free to believe. No one who reads this passage could accuse Jesus of being interested in fame or fortune or the simple accumulation of followers. He didn’t play the ‘numbers game’. Even more amazing is that when his followers seem to be down to their lowest ebb, he turns to the Twelve and gives them freedom to go as well. Peter’s reply, when he speaks of their belief, is the only answer that matters; it is spirit and life that replies, not the flesh, which has nothing to offer.

PSALM

I will bless the Lord at all times, his praise always on my lips; in the Lord my soul shall make its boast. The humble shall hear and be glad. The Lord turns his face against the wicked to destroy their remembrance from the earth. The Lord turns his eyes to the just and his ears to their appeal. They call and the Lord hears and rescues them in all their distress.   The Lord is close to the broken- hearted; those whose spirit is crushed he will save. Many are the trials of the just man but from them all the Lord will rescue him. He will keep guard over all his bones, not one of his bones shall be broken. Evil brings death to the wicked; those who hate the good are doomed. The Lord ransoms the souls of his servants. Those who hide in him shall not be condemned.

Alleluia, alleluia! Your words are spirit, Lord, and they are life: you have the message of eternal life. Alleluia!

First Reading: Joshua 24: 1-2, 15-17, 17,18

Second Reading: Eph 5: 21-32            

Gospel Reading: John 6: 60-69

21st Sunday of Ordinary Time 2015 Newsletter

The Almighty has done great things for me, he has exalted the lowly.

This great feast is a twin to the Feast of the Ascension of the Lord. Then, if you recall, the preface of the Mass contained these words: “Christ is the beginning, the head of the Church; where he has gone, we hope to follow.” Today we celebrate the first of us to do just that, as we remember Mary following our Lord into heaven. She is the first to follow him – but not the last: this feast should help open our eyes to our final destination, heaven. So this feast pushes us right back to Easter, to thoughts of death and resurrection: it is the second reading which underlines all this. It talks of the “gradual” resurrection of the dead: Christ first, then “those who belong to him”.  Of these, the first is Mary, she who was without stain of original sin, she who was “most blessed of all women.” In her, today, we see the fulfilment of the vision of the first reading: the end of death and the victory of life in Christ.

PSALM

The daughters of kings are among your loved ones. On your right stands the queen in gold of Ophir. Listen, O daughter, give ear to my words: forget your own people and your father’s house. So will kings desire your beauty: He is your lord, pay homage to him. They are escorted amid gladness and joy; they pass within the palace of the king.

Alleluia, alleluia! Mary has been taken up to heaven; all the choirs of angels are rejoicing. Alleluia!

First Reading: Apocalypse 11:19, 12:1-6,10

Second Reading: 1Cor 15: 20-26

 Gospel Reading: Luke 1: 39-56

Assumption of Blessed Virgin Mary 2015 Newsletter

“I am the living bread which has come down from heaven.”

The bread that comes down from heaven is not just a bread which nourishes the body, but one which gives renewed life ‑ be this in the form of energy and purpose (as we see in the story of Elijah) or in the form of a gift of eternal life. As Jesus continues his discourse on the Bread of Life, he faces the complaints and criti­cism of the crowd, who take a very short-sighted view of what he says, and affirms for them that true life, a life the will never end, is found in him, he is the one who has come from the Father, and so is the living bread which gives life. Jesus here makes an explicit link between “belief” and “eating the bread of life”: the two lead to each other, and they both bring about that which man most desires ‑ to live for ever. The Response to the Psalm in many ways sums this up: ‘Taste and see that the Lord is good.’

PSALM

I will bless the Lord at all times, his praise always on my lips; in the Lord my soul shall make its boast. The humble shall hear and be glad. Glorify the Lord with me. Together let us praise his name. I sought the Lord and he answered me; from all my terrors he set me free. Look towards him and be radiant; let your faces not be abashed. This poor man called; the Lord heard him and rescued him from all his distress. The angel of the Lord is encamped around those who revere him, to rescue them. Taste and see that the Lord is good. He is happy who seeks refuge in him.

First Reading: 1Kings 19: 4-8

Second Reading: Eph 4: 30-5:2

Gospel Reading: John 6: 41-51

19th Sunday of Ordinary Time 2015 Newsletter

We continue reading from John 6: this is the aftermath of the miracle, and we see the beginnings of a misunderstanding that will develop over the next four weeks. People have seen the miracle, but not the message: they have seen the sign, but not what it points towards. The bread that was given is a sign of the Bread of Life, which is the teaching, the words and the very person of Jesus, as the revelation of the Father. His mission is to draw people back to his Father, to found a New Covenant or relationship. As the weeks go by, we will see that the people’s hunger is simply for spectacle and miracle, not for the much harder teaching of living nourished by God’s word and the presence of his only Son. For us, the People of the New Covenant, these passages must make us think of how we receive the Lord in the Eucharist. Are we nour­ished by his presence, so that all the hunger and thirst of our lives is answered by the One who is the Bread of Life?

PSALM

The things we have heard and understood, the things our fathers have told us, we will tell to the next generation: the glories of the Lord and his might. He commanded the clouds above and opened the gates of heaven. He rained down manna for their food, and gave them bread from heaven. Mere men ate the bread of angels. He sent them abundance of food. He brought them to his holy land, to the mountains which his right hand had won.

First Reading: Exodus 16: 2-4, 12-15

Second Reading: Ephesians 4:17, 20-24            

Gospel Reading: John 6: 24-35

18th Sunday of Ordinary Time 2015 Newsletter

“Jesus gave out as much as was wanted to all who were sitting ready.”

For the next five weeks we take our leave of Saint Mark’s Gospel (since it is not long enough to fill the year) and read Chapter Six of Saint John’s Gospel. This is the famous “Eucharistic Discourse” and begins with the miracle of the feeding of the five thousand. A line of the Psalm gives the meaning of today’s readings: “The eyes of all creatures look to you (O God) and you give them their food in due time.” Our God is the God who provides for his people; the prosperity and fruitfulness of our earth and the mysterious cycles of nature ensures that all have what they need ‑ and have some left over. The actions of Elisha and Jesus are in a sense prophetic: many would say that there is not enough food in this world to go round, just as the two sets of disciples complain that there is not enough for the hundred or the five thousand. But the prophetic action states that this is not true: God provides what is needed. This might prompt us to think about the unfair and unequal distribution of the fruits of the earth: the miracle is a sign of the Kingdom of God ‑ what God wants the world to be like. Perhaps we should take the message of the miracle to heart this Sunday and think about the multitude that still sits in hunger in our world today.

Psalm

All your creatures shall thank you, O Lord and all your friends shall repeat their blessing. They shall speak of the glory of your reign and declare your might, O God. The eyes of all your creatures look to you and you give them their food in due time. You open wide your hand, grant the desires of all who live. The Lord is just in all his ways and loving in all his deeds. He is close to all who call him, who call on him from their hearts.

First Reading: 2 Kings 4:42‑44

Second Reading: Ephesians 4:1‑6

Gospel Reading: John 6: 1-15

17th Sunday of Ordinary Time 2015 Newsletter

“They were like sheep without a shepherd.”

“Sheep without a shepherd.” This is the simple theme of today’s readings. It is interest­ing that Jesus’ reaction to the crowd is one of pity – as he sees their great thirst for his teach­ings. This is, in a sense, a clear fulfilment of the prophecy we hear in the first reading, where God promises a true shepherd who will care for the people of Israel. Shepherding is a particularly suitable im­age of God’s love and care. The dependency of the sheep on their shepherd, their wandering and drifting without someone to guide them, is also a suitable image of the people God loves. Our own age also displays sheep without shepherds ‑ a great wandering crowd, seeking something, but not knowing what they are seeking. It is to this flock that the present day followers of Jesus are sent as shepherds.

PSALM

The Lord is my shepherd; there is nothing I shall want. Fresh and green are the pastures where he gives me repose. Near restful waters he leads me, to revive my drooping spirit. He guides me along the right path; he is true to his name. If I should walk in the valley of darkness no evil will I fear. You are there with your crook and staff; with these you give me comfort. You have prepared a banquet for me in the sight of my foes. My head you have anointed with oil; my cup is overflowing. Surely goodness and kindness shall follow me all the days of my life. In the Lord’s own house shall I dwell for ever and ever.

First Reading: Jeremiah 23:1-6

Second Reading: Ephesians 2: 13-18

Gospel Reading: Mark 6:30-34

16th Sunday of Ordinary Time 2015 Newsletter