(For International Districts)
2nd Sunday in Ordinary Time (Cycle C, Year I)
Community Word: Like Mary, we are the light of the New Evangelization.
Theme: We are the light of the New Evangelization when we honor and obey Jesus
Promise: “No more shall people call you ‘forsaken,’ or your land ‘desolate,’ but you shall be called my ‘delight’ and your land ‘espoused.” (Is 62:4)
Reflection:
In the First Reading, Isaiah speaks to an exiled Israel, a people driven from their homeland, of the time when God’s power will transform them from “forsaken” or “abandoned” (in modern jargon – “losers” or “failures”) to a “chosen” and “blessed” nation (this week’s Promise – Isaiah 62:4). He tells them of the power of God to change life.
In our Lord Jesus, we too can move from failure to a fresh start, from sin to a new life of grace and from personal loss to a new chapter in our life. He enables us to draw wisdom from the past and helps guide our future. Jesus changed water into wine. He can change our sinful past into a new future and our talents into tools for spreading the gospel.
The psalmist invites the people to sing to the Lord a new song, proclaim His marvelous/wondrous deeds, His salvation day after day, and declare among the nations, ‘The Lord is King’, he rules the people with equity. The passage completes the word from Isaiah, demonstrating how reliable God’s love is, a love that is present here and now.
In the second reading, St. Paul writes to the Corinthians, a talented but divided parish about the variety of spiritual gifts, all of which are given for the purpose of building up the church. In Christ, our talents can become gifts to the church, instruments of grace, vehicles of His truth, channels of His love and ways of building up the church. We can neither choose the events that cross our path, nor the issues that come our way. But we are called to follow the Lord not in the places of our choosing, but along the path He has chosen for us.
The gospel account of the wedding at Cana demonstrates the transforming power of Christ, not only in changing water into wine, but in transforming human lives. His presence and that of his mother as guests at the wedding truly graced the occasion. Wine, symbol of joy that comes from God continued to flow even after it had run out. Jesus changes the ordinary things of our life into occasions of extraordinary grace. Cana reminds us that great things can happen anywhere, anytime. Jesus can give us the power of His grace to transform our past into a bright future and our talents into vessels of the gospel. He can give us the grace to turn our talents into gifts in this community He has given us. He pours out His love on us everyday of our lives without any reservations, and without any limits. His generosity is as great as His compassion, producing, as it did on that occasion, an enormous quantity of wine, more than enough. Indeed, God’s generosity is truly amazing and bountiful!
More than merely changing the water into wine, John‘s gospel tells us that the old covenant has ended, and the new one has begun. And the new covenant will bind all mankind to God. Through His Son, God will wed Himself to all mankind, and when He does, there will be wine in abundance and great rejoicing for Jesus will bring joy to all mankind. When Jesus told Mary “my hour has not yet come”, Mary responded, “Do whatever He tells you.” What makes Mary’s response so important to us? If you are persistent in your prayer, God will hear you, He will do whatever is best for you. You have done all you can do, and now, like Mary, you can leave your needs in God’s hands with complete surrender, committed to simply doing “whatever He tells you.”
As Scripture says, “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today and forever” (Heb 13:8). Today, as more than 2,000 years ago, Jesus is the same compassionate Son of God. Let us always turn to Him in our needs. He will never disappoint us.
Reflection Questions:
1. Reflect on the times that your obedience to Jesus became a shining example to others.
2. This year, what can you do to let people know about Jesus as our Savior whom we can trust to change lives from
“being forsaken” to “being blessed”?
This Week’s Daily Mass Reading Guide:
January 20, 2013 (Sun) Is 62:1-5/ Ps 96:1-3,7-10/ 1Cor 12:4-11/ Jn 2:1-11
January 21, 2013 (Mon) Heb 5:1-10/ Ps 110:1-4/ Mk 2:18-22
January 22, 2013 (Tues) Heb 6:10-20/ Ps 111:1,2,4,5,9,10/ Mk 2:23-28
January 23, 2013 (Wed) Heb 7:1-3,15-17/ Ps 110:1-4/ Mk 3:1-6
January 24, 2013 (Thur) Heb 7:25-8:6/ Ps 40:8-10,17/ Mk 3:7-12
January 25, 2013 (Fri) Acts 22:3-16 or Acts 9:1-22/ Ps 117:1,2/ Mk 16:15-18
January 26, 2013 (Sat) 2Tm 1:1-8 or Ti 1:1-5/ Ps 96:1-3,7,8/ Lk 10:1-9
“Ignorance of the Bible is ignorance of Christ. Read your Bible daily!”
