Welcome to MMOJ! Deacon Jim Marsh,ARCWP in photo below
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Third Sunday in Ordinary Time Year
B – January 24-25, 2015
Our Theme is Spokespersons of the Good NewsOur question: How are we heralds of the Good News?
My friends, we are closing the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity, a
tradition begun in 1908. The scriptural text for this year’s theme
(chosen by the
“Jesus said to her: ‘give
me to drink.’
We are three
weeks into our new year according to our Gregorian calendar. I am into my first week of this new chapter in my retired life, as
deacon/servant.
And Chinese communities all over the world are preparing to celebrate a
New Year! The event was once based on a complex lunar calendar that
served as a religious and social guide. It always falls between Jan 21 and
February 20th. The Chinese believe a new year is a time to balance tensions,
polar opposites — the yin yang — necessary for living in harmony with one
another. This new year, which officially begins February 19th, is the year of
the Goat. People born under this auspicious sign are considered to be gentle
& mild-mannered, though strong on the inside, sympathetic yet strong-willed
in their opinions and brimming with a strong sense of justice.
So let us listen to what the Spirit (Sophia Wisdom) is saying to us this day in
our readings and shared dialogue. Let us begin our prayer in song!
See homily below:
Deacon Jim Marsh:
What did you hear?
Today’s Gospel follows on the heels of last week when we
heard about John the Baptizers movement that stressed conversion, and their
catching sight of Jesus, whom they called the Messiah, the Annointed One. We heard Jesus ask “What are you looking
for?” and his response “come and see.”
Today’s Gospel is certainly about being called ----- we hear
the call of Simon, Andrew, James and John.
Jesus says God’s kin-dom is here among us --- and they become conscious,
aware (perhaps for the first time) that they are in the presence of God and
have a role in making this kin-dom happen.
So I ask you, did you hear your names?????? Katy, Terry, Mary Al, Mindy, Kevin ….
Did you hear the voice of Jesus, the Shepherd, calling not
only the sheep but the goats, as well, whether we were born under that “Chinese’
sign or not? Indeed, we are called to be
“good news!”
And what is this good news?
Simply, that God loves you and me beyond all measure, and even those who
seem unlovable given our own fears and prejudices. As our own beloved bishop, Bridget Mary, just
shared with us, we are all held in the passionate, tender embrace of our God
who is in and
all around us. We are
called to be and do something beyond our imaginings: to make the kin-dom a
reality in our time, each of us by our unique giftedness.
And there’s our first reading from Jonah in the great city
of Nineveh. We’re told that this is the
second time that the word of YHWH came to Jonah. Did he not hear it the first time? Did he ignore it or even argue that it was
not his job or responsibility to speak out, to advocate for a new way of
relating to
each other?
Was it really God who was out to destroy this great city or
was it the result of it’s citizens who followed other voices that created
brokenness, corruption, and all manner of living, not in “right relation to
each other?” I believe the imminent
destruction was of their making?
Are we as guilty (destroying our world rather than creating),
with our wars and war-making, our drones that kill innocent women and children
daily, our ever-increasing gap between those who have and those who have not? This week we learned that the richest 1 percent
in the world are likely to control more than half the globe’s wealth by
2016. Eighty (80) of the wealthiest
folks already own $1.9 trillion which is the same amount that is shared by 3.5
billion of our sisters and brothers who occupy
the bottom half of the income scale. It’s
just staggering ………….. To quote the
author, “Do we really ant to live in a world where the 1 percent own more than
the rest of us combined?”
And then there’s our second reading – Paul’s letter to the
church at Corinth. While much of it is ‘scary’
to me, the part that resonates is “the world, as we know it, is passing away.” The old order is to be replaced/recreated by
us.
If you’re ever at a loss for what to pray for and about,
just open the newspaper. My friends, we
are called to be people of prayer and action.
But prayer is a dangerous activity!
Just look at the life of Jesus, the Christ. God invites us to be co-creators and
re-creators of the world. The kin-dom is
here, it’s among us. We
have much work to do! Let us recognize the face of God in all we meet, and act
accordingly!
May God be praised in our living and loving this week!
So what did you hear, and how are you heralds of this “Good
News?”
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| Jim Marsh and Lee Breyer |
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| Over 60 in MMOJ Community gathers around the altar to pray Eucharistic Prayer |
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| Bridget Mary Meehan anoints those who requested Sacrament of the Sick |
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| MMOJ Community blesses Jack Duffy, accompanied by his daughter Bridget and her husband David, on his 80th birthday |
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| Bridget Mary anoints Jack Duffy |
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| Over 60 people attended our MMOJ liturgy on Jan. 24th |
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| Bridget Mary, Jack Duffy, with David and Mary Bridget Duffy |
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| Dotty Shugrue with her sisters from the Sisterhood of Chrysalis |
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| Some visitors to MMOJ were ARCWP priests and friend Guila from left to right back row, photojournalist, Guila Bianchi, ARCWP priests: Mary Collingwoood, front left to right, Bridget Mary Meehan, Janice, Sevre-Duszynska and Dotty Shugrue |
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| Mary Collingwood, Guila Bianchi, and Bridget Mary Meehan |
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| Bridget Mary Meehan and Jack Duffy |
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| back row: Michael Rigdon, Jack Duffy, Mary Collingwood, Guila Bianchi, Dotty Shurgrue, Katy Zatsick, Imogene Rigdon, Janice Sevre Duszynska, Bridget Mary Meehan, Dotty Shugrue |
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