Parish of Our Lady & Saint David, Cwmbran

“Do not worry about tomorrow.”

In these weeks, as we follow the Sermon on the Mount in Saint Matthew’s Gospel, it can feel as though we are dealing with some very “obvious” and familiar teachings. Last week we had “Love your neighbour”, and this week the extremely simple message that God loves and cares for us. This is because the Sermon on the Mount is a great summary of the most basic teachings of our faith, and we should take this opportunity to renew within ourselves our awareness of these teachings. After a simple, yet beautiful image in the first reading, Jesus elaborates on the idea of the constant care of God for us with some more beautiful images: he invites us to look at the birds and the flowers, which do not have money, mortgages, computers, cars or so many of the things we have and worry about, and yet manage to be beautiful and happy in what God provides. The message is simple, and is expressed right at the beginning of the Gospel: trust God; be the servant of God, relying on God for everything, not on money or the other things of this world.

First Reading: Isaiah 49:14-15

Res: In God alone is my soul at rest

Second Reading: 1 Corinthians 4:1-5

Gospel Reading: Matt 6:24-34

“Love your enemies.”

“Love your neighbour as yourself.” These are words we associate so clearly with the teaching of Jesus and the way of life the Gospel calls us to. But it may be a surprise to some people to hear that these words come first from the Old Testament, in the mouth of Moses himself. Moses was speaking the Lord God’s instruction for the community – the community of the people of Israel in flight from Egypt in their long sojourn in the wilderness. God’s instructions were about how that community had to work – without grudges, resentment or vengeance, but with love and forgiveness and tolerance. When Jesus comes with the message of the Kingdom of heaven, it is the same – instruction for a perfect, God-guided society, which depends on how each of us lives with others. The “wisdom of this world”, which Saint Paul mentions in the Second Reading, will not teach us this: the world will believe in vengeance, and friendship only for your friends. Each of us must ask how we can embrace the apparent folly of Jesus’ teaching: love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you.

First Reading: Leviticus 19:1-2.17-18

Res: The Lord is compassion and love

Second Reading: 1 Cor 3:16-23

Gospel Reading: Matt.5: 38-48

“You have learnt how it was said to your ancestors; but I say this to you.”

Back in the 60s some groups “adopted” Jesus Christ as an icon of rebellion, overturning authority and tearing up the rule book – possibly because of the frequent confrontations between Our Lord and the Pharisees. Today’s Gospel, however, shows us Jesus not as rule-breaker, but as rule-fulfiller, bringing an even greater depth to the rule that had guided the people of Israel for centuries. Jesus does not throw out the rulebook – or as the first reading says, He does not command us to be godless!  He challenges us in this Gospel to see how far our keeping God’s Law will go: will it just be about the letter of the Law (“I have never killed anyone”), or will it look deeper (“Have I ever been angry? Have I been violent in my thoughts?”). The challenge of the Kingdom of Heaven is to keep the commandments first and foremost from within, so that our outward behaviour conforms to the requirements of God’s Law.

First Reading: Ecclesiasticus 15: 16-20

Res: They are happy who follow God’s Law!

Second Reading: 1Cor2: 6-10

Gospel Reading: Matthew 5: 17-37

While the world may seem to be very indifferent to Christianity most of the time, it can be very critical of Christians who do not seem to be following the most basic tenet of their faith – to be  a people of “good deeds”, as Jesus teaches in today’s portion of the Sermon on the Mount. While we may sometimes feel indignant about the world’s criticism of our faults, we have to remember that we are in a vital relationship with “the word” – we are to be its light. This means that we should welcome the world’s gaze and scrutiny of our actions and beliefs and we should, in a sense, be accountable to the world for the way we live. We should never be salt that loses its taste. This openness to the gaze of all is not for our own glory, however: it is so that others may find what we have found – their way to the Faith

First Reading: Isaiah 58:7-10

Res: The good man is a light in the darkness for the upright

Second Reading: 1Cor.2: 1-5

Gospel: Matthew 5:13-16

Christmas, Epiphany and Candlemas are the three blessed beacons of the Christmas season. Each one in turn flashes God’s brightness to a world in darkness. Each one in turn is greater in intensity and spreads its comforting ray further and further. Each one proclaims that God, Light of true Light, has come to live in our midst first to Jew, then to Gentile, and then to the universal Church. Now we no longer live in darkness of spirit.

First Reading: Malachi 3: 1-4

Res: Who is the king of glory?  It is the Lord

Second Reading Hebrews 2:14-18

Gospel Reading: Luke 2:22-40

We will spend most of the Sundays of the coming year in the company of Saint Matthew. His Gospel (like the others has its own characteristics. He is writing for a Jewish audience, and so is always at pains to stress one thing: that Jesus of Nazareth was the promised Messiah. He does this by reference to Jesus’ teaching and miracles, and very often by quoting the prophecies of the Old Testament to show that Jesus was their fulfilment. Today is a perfect example. “Zebulun and Naphthali” was an old name for the area round Capernaum by the side of the Lake of Galilee, a busy fishing and trading area, with many Gentile towns and settlements: it is here, rather than in the dangerous town of Nazareth, that Jesus “settles” and begins his ministry. This is where the proclamation of the Kingdom of God begins, as was foretold, and the first followers are invited to join Jesus.

First Reading Isaiah 8:23-9:3

Res: the Lord is my light and my help

Second Reading 1 Cor 1:10-13,17

Gospel Reading: Matthew 4: 12-23

There is no break between Christmas and Ordinary Time – one flows almost seamlessly into the other through the Baptism of Jesus. We ended our Christmas Season thinking about the “revelation” of the Son of God – people realising who this “Jesus of Nazareth” actually was – and this continues today, as we interject a passage from Saint John before we begin our weekly reading through Saint Matthew’s Gospel. New Year is about beginnings, and as we return to the beginning of Our Lord’s public ministry there is a sense of something exciting about to happen – even though we know the story, we dive into it once more, like returning to a favourite novel or film. So it is with joy that we stand in the country of the river Jordan, and recognise Jesus of Nazareth as the Chosen One of God, who offers himself to do God’s work.

First Reading: Isaiah 49:3, 5-6

Res: Here I am Lord!  I come to do your will

Second Reading: 1 Cor 1: 1-3

Gospel Reading: John 1: 29-34

Week of Prayer for Christian Unity

It may seem strange, but this is a Christmas Feast. Not if we think of Christmas only in terms of the Baby in Bethlehem, but if we have followed the ideas of the Feasts of Holy Family and especially Epiphany, and have seen the Season in terms of the growing manifestation or appearing of the Son of God: first to the shepherds and then to the wise men from the East. Now in the River Jordan, Jesus, Son of Mary, is revealed to all as the fullness of all God’s promises: “This is my Son, the Beloved”. On this day we stand before the revelation of God’s love for us, such that he would send his only Son into the world. Christmas without the Baptism of the Lord, and the words that are spoken from heaven, would be incomplete, since it is only in them that we fully see the wonder of what happened in Bethlehem, that we fully understand the reason for the joy with which we celebrated Christmas Day. As we come to the end of Christmas today, and look forward to hearing the Gospel in Ordinary Time, we do so having been shown who it is we listen to: the only Son of God, the Beloved.

First Reading Isaiah 42: 1-4, 6-7

Res: The Lord will bless his people with peace

Second Reading: Acts 10: 34-38

Gospel: Matthew 3: 13-17

In the East, this Season of Christmas is called the “Time of Manifestation”, or Showing. Today is the ‘Feast of the Manifestation’, or the Showing of the Saviour to the whole world, to all nations. In the wise men who travel from the East, we see all the nations other than the people of Israel being welcomed at the New Temple of the New Covenant – the new born child in the manger. A look at the Psalm response shows this: “All nations shall fall prostrate before you, O Lord.” The same is true of the key word in the second reading: “Revelation”. Remember that for the people of Israel this was to be their Messiah, come to restore their fortunes. By this feast, we proclaim God’s plan was to extend his salvation to men and women of every nation, of every time and every place – including us. In many ways this is our Christmas Feast, when we celebrate the Good News of the Saviour’s birth revealed at last to us.

First Reading: Isaiah 60:1-6

Res: All nations shall fall prostrate before you, O Lord.

Second Reading: Ephesians 3: 2-3, 5-6

Gospel Reading: Matthew 2: 1-12

Mass Times

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Sacrament of Reconciliation
Saturday 4th
Our Lady’s – 12noon -12.30pm
St David’s – 3.45pm -4.15pm

A Happy and a Holy Christmas

With best wishes for the New Year

Canon John