2nd Sunday in Ordinary Time (Cycle B, Year I)

Community Word:    Jesus is the guiding Star in our journey of faith.

Theme: We are guided by the Star in our journey of faith when we follow and remain with Jesus.

Promise: “Whoever is joined to the Lord becomes one spirit with him.” (1Cor 6:17)

Reflection:
The Readings for the 2nd Sunday in Ordinary Time speak of discipleship and our journey of faith when we follow and remain with Jesus. Each of us has been called by God in different ways and in varied and different circumstances.  And, like Samuel in the 1st Reading, we heard God’s call and we responded.  To most of us, our attendance at the Life in the Spirit Seminar where we were baptized in the Spirit was the turning point of our Christian journey.

It was a start of living a new life in Jesus through the community, where we came to grow in the understanding of our faith and of ourselves, and acquired a deeper knowledge and appreciation of our Lord Jesus Christ.

As we continue our journey of faith through BLD, we realize that discipleship is not merely the heeding of God’s call, but part of the process of becoming members of God’s family.  It is a call to holiness which exhorts us to abandon our past worldly lives, to make way for ‘pure and unblemished’ living in the body of Christ.  In his letter to the Corinthians, St. Paul reminds us that our bodies are the ‘temples’ of the Holy Spirit: “Do you not know that your bodies are members of Christ and a temple of the Holy Spirit?” (1Cor 6:15).

These days, St. Paul would not just be referring to our sexual sins, inclinations and preferences, but to the way we abuse and desecrate our bodies by altering our physical bodies through modern science. Other ways of abusing our ‘temple of the Holy Spirit’ include abusive intake of alcohol and illegal substances; squandering of financial resources through gambling and over indulgence in material things, and mindless negligence of our physical bodies.  With so much noise and so many concerns claiming our attention, how can we hear the Spirit, let alone recognize the voice of God calling or speaking to us? Our journey of faith, our beliefs and convictions are defined by and expressed in our conformity with, and union with Jesus Christ.

Hence, it is imperative and incumbent upon us to nurture our bodies, minds and spirit by constantly feeding on His Word and partaking of the Eucharist and the Sacrament of Confession, so that the grace of God may flow in us and through us, that we may be living witnesses through whom His countenance may shine in transforming and healing love.  For in Him we truly live and move and have our being.  It is in moments of grace like these that we recognize God’s voice clearly as we listen to His word and say with John, “We have found Him.”  As God’s grace begins to abound in us, we become a ‘community of disciples inspired by the Holy Spirit to be living witnesses for transformation in Christ to bring about a world of justice, human development and true peace.’ (BLD Vision)

Let us then heed our theme for the week, which says: We are guided by the Star in our journey of faith when we follow and remain with Jesus.  Let us make our homes a place where love and concern, warmth, gentleness and compassion abound.  And let these shared Christian values and insights be the lifeline of our community life, our household of God, that at every turn, and in every aspect of our lives, we may glorify God in our bodies and in our living spaces for,  “Whoever is joined to the Lord becomes one spirit with him,” (1Cor 6:17).

Prayer:
Father in heaven, Glorious and Magnificent God, You have revealed Jesus to the world, our Guiding Star, so that we may journey in faith and remain with You.  We believe that You are concerned not just about our physical bodies, but our total human condition.  Please touch and transform us so that we may love You as You love us, without judgment and with gentleness and compassion.  We live in a world full of confusing and distracting noises and voices.  Please direct our way, and with Your light, draw us back to the right path and engrave the Gospel permanently upon our hearts. Amen.

Reflection Questions:
1. Are we “at home” in following Christ as we journey forward in faith?  Or, are we still wavering in our faith?
2. How sacred is my body to me, and what should I do to maintain its sacredness?

This Week’s Daily Mass Reading Guide:
January 18, 2015 (Sun)    Sm 3:3-10,19/Ps 40:2,4,7-8,8-9,10/1Cor 6:13-15,17-20/Jn 1:35-42
January 19, 2015 (Mon)    Heb 5:1-10/Ps 110:1,2,3,4/Mk 2:18-22
January 20, 2015 (Tues)    Heb 6:10-20/Ps 111:1-2,4-5,9,10/Mk 2:23-28
January 21, 2015 (Wed)    Heb 7:1-3,15-17/Ps 110:1,2,3,4/Mk 3:1-6
January 22, 2015 (Thurs)   Heb 7:25-8:6/Ps 40:7-8,8-9,10,17/Mk 3:7-12
January 23, 2015 (Fri)       Heb 8:6-13/Ps 85:8,10,11-12,13-14/Mk 3:13-19
January 24, 2015 (Sat)      Heb 9:2-3,11-14/Ps 47:2-3,6-7,8-9/Mk 3:20-21

“Ignorance of the Bible is ignorance of Christ.  Read your Bible daily!”

Please download in PDF format.