feast of the presentation of the lord

Posted on by Cassie

Why did Mary and Joseph bring Jesus to the Temple?  The reason stretches back to the original Passover.   God had told the Israelites to put the blood of a lamb on their doorposts so that their firstborn sons would be spared from the plague that was going to hit Egypt.  From then on,  all first born children had to be consecrated to the Lord (Exodus 13:2).  The offering of a lamb– or a turtledove or pigeon for the poor– was given to “redeem” the child, to spare him from evil.

Of course, we may protest that Jesus didn’t need to be redeemed.  He is the Lamb who redeemed all of us!  But true to a lamb’s nature, that redemption was accomplished by submission– submission to His Father’s will.  And God’s will included being taken to the Temple, to be presented to His heavenly Father!  So the consecration of Jesus was more than symbolic.  It was the beginning of a life totally given to God, a life dedicated completely to glorifying the Father.

Think about the Presentation when you go to Mass this weekend.  As you see the priest consecrate the host, think about what he is doing—offering Jesus to the Father.  Joseph and Mary offered Jesus as a helpless infant.  But now he appears even more helpless, in the form of a wafer of bread.  But like Mary and Joseph, we know how much power, love, and grace are contained in that small host:  enough to cover the sins of the whole world! Enough to make every one of us children of God!

Pray about what you will offer to God today.  It might seem small in comparison to Jesus’ offering of His whole life.  But whatever it is, that offering will become something greater than anyone could ever expect.  Your gift to the Lord, united in prayer to His own sacrifice, will bring Him great glory, and bear witness to His name.

“Lord, I offer you my life.  All my dreams, plans, hopes, and  fears are yours.  Give me the faith to follow you today, knowing that you will  work all things together for my good.” 

God Bless,

Msgr. Powell

third sunday in ordinary time

Posted on by Cassie

This year we walk through the ministry of Jesus, with Saint Luke as our main guide.  Luke is the author of both the Gospel and the Acts of the Apostles.  At the beginning of both books he speaks to “Theophilus”.  Theophilus could have been a particular man.  However, the word Theophilus means “lover of God.”  In a sense, St. Luke wrote his works for you and me who are indeed “Lovers of God.”

Immediately after being Baptized by John, Jesus leaves the Jordan River for  the Judean wilderness.  Luke tells us that Jesus leaves the river “filled with the Holy Spirit.”  When Jesus emerges from His ordeal against the devil, “Jesus returned to Galilee in the power of the Spirit.”

The next scene is Jesus unrolling the scroll of Isaiah in His home synagogue at Nazareth.  This scene provides a prologue for the entire ministry of Jesus: anointed by the Spirit, He would preach and heal, but some would reject Him and seek His death.  Luke shows us that Jesus is firmly rooted in the Jewish world.  He goes to His synagogue as He was accustomed to do and He reads the prophetic scroll which describes the work of the prophetic servant Isaiah, which He will now fulfill.

This will be demonstrated through the words and deeds of Jesus throughout the rest of the Gospel.  The ministry of Jesus would be the fulfillment of the Jubilee year, the time specified in Leviticus 25 when debts would be forgiven and slaves given their freedom.  Jesus’ announcement of a “year acceptable to the Lord” is a time when the spiritual debt of sin would be forgiven and when those held in bondage of sickness and evil would be freed.

God Bless,

Msgr. Powell

 

The Marriage Feast of Cana (Second Sunday in Ordinary Time)

Posted on by Cassie

Now that we are in the Ordinary Time of the Church year, we begin to orderly go through the life and teaching of Jesus.  On this the Second Sunday in Ordinary time we begin to look at the first of His signs.

John speaks of Jesus’ miracles as “signs,” that is actions that carry special meaning and reveal who Jesus is.  The incident in today’s reading is a sign that Jesus is inaugurating a new era, a messianic age.

The focus of the story is on the large quantity of  wine that filled ceremonial water jars as a result of Jesus’ intervention.  This is presented as the “beginning of Jesus ‘signs,” revealing His glory and leading His followers to greater faith.

In Jewish writings, an abundance of wine was a symbol of the joy that would greet God’s final intervention in history.  The abundance of wine at Cana was a sign that Jesus was inaugurating a new and final era in Gods’ relationship with His people.  Jesus would replace the religious customs of Judaism, symbolized by the jars used for ceremonial washings.  The sign Jesus performed pointed to what Jesus would accomplish by His life and death, and it pointed to Him as the one who would accomplish it.  Jesus provided wine, as a symbolic foretaste of the messianic era His death would inaugurate.  The first of Jesus’ signs pointed ahead to the whole mission of Jesus, and invited faith in Him as the one sent from God to carry it out.  By changing water into wine, Jesus behaves like the bridegroom and provides the “new wine” of His Gospel.

The Holy Sacrifice of the Mass has traditionally been seen as the “Wedding Feast of the Lamb.”

Jesus is the Lamb of God and we, the Church, are His bride.  As we come to Mass – the Wedding Feast- , we are given the opportunity to taste the good wine –  the new wine of the Bridegroom.  This wine of greater quality – His Precious  Blood – is still offered to us in great abundance.

HOW TRULY BLESSED WE ARE TO BE CATHOLIC !

God Bless,

Msgr. Powell