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Do Lough Derg from wherever you are
Date: Saturday 27th – Monday 29th June 2020Location: Wherever you are
Do Lough Derg from wherever you are
Date: Saturday 27th – Monday 29th June 2020
Location: Wherever you are
The Pope Video – December 2020
For a life of prayer
Christian Radio Stations
Bishop Alan McGuckian
The Joy of the Gospel – Reflection 4 by Bishop Alan McGuckian
Novena Online
The Limerick Novena 2020 – Hope in a time of crisis
Bishop Alan McGuckian
The Joy of the Gospel – April 29th
Churches of the Day
New life to come.
We are in the season of Advent, and someone is coming who knows justice by heart – a person will appear upon this earth who will be robed with integrity and faithfulness. The one who is to come will restore peace to the world. And now, brace yourself for the unbelievable: the wild and the tame will feast at the same table, and fear of what is different will fade away. Even enemies will join hands – even though it sounds like a fairy tale myth which only the “little ones” could believe, it is true.
Is there something in your life that seems to be dried up and on its way out the door? Think again – take a new look at all the enemies of hope in your life and rejoice in the life that is to come.
Compiled by Deirdre Powell
Catholicireland.net
Source: Living Faith, Daily Catholic Devotions (adapted).
Dec 4 - St John Damascene (675–749) defender of icons
Summary : St John Damascene, Priest, Doctor of the Church. Born about 675 in Damascus (Syria); died near Jerusalem about 749. He was a Christian official in a Moslem government. Became a monk and later presbyter at Mar Saba monastery near Jerusalem, where he was renowned as a theologian and biblical commentator. Noted for his vigorous defence of the veneration of images against the iconoclasts, his theological writings synthesising the thought of the Greek Fathers, his poetry and hymnody.
John Damascene worked as a controller of revenues for the Muslim caliph of Damascus before he retired to the wilderness near Jericho to be a monk. Best known for his writings in defence of icons, but also for his systematic theology and for hymns in honour of Our Lady.
Patrick Duffy describes his life.
Controller of revenues for the caliph
Islam was already well established in Syria when John, also called Monsur, was born in Damascus in 675. His father (Sergius?) was a Christian who held the post of controller of revenues at the court of the caliph Abdul Malek in the city. Christians were free to worship as long as they paid the poll tax. John was baptised and received a classical Christian education from a monk called Cosmas, whom the Arabs had brought from Sicily as a slave and John's father had purchased for a large sum of money. John succeeded to his father's post and worked at it until a new caliph made his position more difficult.
Monk at Mar Saba
Around 716 John resigned from his post, gave away all his money to his relatives and joined the monastery of Mar Saba in the wilderness between Jerusalem and the Dead Sea. Here together with a close friend also named Cosmas he spent his time composing hymns which Cosmas sang and writing theological treatises. The singing disturbed the quiet life of the monastery, but the patriarch of Jerusalem John V appreciated the pair and took them out of the monastery. He appointed Cosmas a bishop and ordained John a priest. John feared the prospect of being an administrator for the rest of his life and returned to the monastery.
The Iconoclasts
This was the time when the controversy between the iconoclasts (who opposed the use of images) and the iconodoules (who were devoted to their use) broke out. The controversy was greatly fanned by the rise of Islam which also opposed images and in 726 the emperor Leo III at Constantinople took a public stand against icons.
Arguments of John of Damascus in favour of ikons
John explained the honour given to icons like this: "Often, doubtless, when we have not the Lord's passion in mind and see the image of Christ's crucifixion, his saving passion is brought back to remembrance, and we fall down and worship not the material but that which is imaged: just as we do not worship the material of which the Gospels are made, nor the material of the Cross, but that which these typify."
Second, John drew support from the writings of the early fathers like Basil the Great, who wrote, "The honour paid to an icon is transferred to its prototype." That is, the actual icon is only a point of departure for the expressed devotion; the recipient is in the unseen world.
Third, John claimed that, with the birth of the Son of God in the flesh, the depiction of Christ in paint and wood demonstrated faith in the Incarnation. Since the unseen God had become visible, there was no blasphemy in painting visible representations of Jesus or other historical figures. To paint an icon of him was, in fact, a profession of faith, deniable only by a heretic! "I do not worship matter, I worship the God of matter, who became matter for my sake and deigned to inhabit matter, who worked out my salvation through matter," he wrote. "I will not cease from honouring that matter which works for my salvation. I venerate it, though not as God."
His threefold fame
John of Damascus is famous in three areas.
Firstly, he is known for his writings against the iconoclasts, who opposed the veneration of images. Paradoxically, it was the Eastern Christian emperor Leo who forbade the practice, and it was because John lived in Muslim territory that his enemies could not silence him.
Secondly, he is famous for his treatise, Exposition of the Orthodox Faith, a summary of the Greek Fathers (of which he became the last). It is said that this book is to Eastern schools what the Summa Theologica of Aquinas became to the West. Indeed St Thomas was influenced by him.
Thirdly, he is known as a poet, one of the two greatest of the Eastern Church, the other being Romanus the Melodist. His devotion to the Blessed Mother and his sermons on her feasts are well known. Three of his sermons deal with the bodily assumption of the Virgin Mary into heaven after her death.
Death and influence
John died in 749. He is appreciated for his quintessentially Catholic sacramental vision.
"The one who seeks God continually will find him," he wrote, "for God is in everything."
Pope Leo XIII declared him a doctor of the Church in 1890.
John Damascene worked as a controller of revenues for the Muslim caliph of Damascus before he retired to the wilderness near Jericho to be a monk. Best known for his writings in defence of icons, but also for his systematic theology and for hymns in honour of Our Lady.Patrick Duffy describes his life.
Controller of revenues for the caliph
Islam was already well established in Syria when John, also called Monsur, was born in Damascus in 675. His father (Sergius?) was a Christian who held the post of controller of revenues at the court of the caliph Abdul Malek in the city. Christians were free to worship as long as they paid the poll tax. John was baptised and received a classical Christian education from a monk called Cosmas, whom the Arabs had brought from Sicily as a slave and John's father had purchased for a large sum of money. John succeeded to his father's post and worked at it until a new caliph made his position more difficult.
Monk at Mar SabaAround 716 John resigned from his post, gave away all his money to his relatives and joined the monastery of Mar Saba in the wilderness between Jerusalem and the Dead Sea. Here together with a close friend also named Cosmas he spent his time composing hymns which Cosmas sang and writing theological treatises. The singing disturbed the quiet life of the monastery, but the patriarch of Jerusalem John V appreciated the pair and took them out of the monastery. He appointed Cosmas a bishop and ordained John a priest. John feared the prospect of being an administrator for the rest of his life and returned to the monastery.
The Iconoclasts
This was the time when the controversy between the iconoclasts (who opposed the use of images) and the iconodoules (who were devoted to their use) broke out. The controversy was greatly fanned by the rise of Islam which also opposed images and in 726 the emperor Leo III at Constantinople took a public stand against icons.Arguments of John of Damascus in favour of ikons
John explained the honour given to icons like this: "Often, doubtless, when we have not the Lord's passion in mind and see the image of Christ's crucifixion, his saving passion is brought back to remembrance, and we fall down and worship not the material but that which is imaged: just as we do not worship the material of which the Gospels are made, nor the material of the Cross, but that which these typify."
Second, John drew support from the writings of the early fathers like Basil the Great, who wrote, "The honour paid to an icon is transferred to its prototype." That is, the actual icon is only a point of departure for the expressed devotion; the recipient is in the unseen world.
Third, John claimed that, with the birth of the Son of God in the flesh, the depiction of Christ in paint and wood demonstrated faith in the Incarnation. Since the unseen God had become visible, there was no blasphemy in painting visible representations of Jesus or other historical figures. To paint an icon of him was, in fact, a profession of faith, deniable only by a heretic! "I do not worship matter, I worship the God of matter, who became matter for my sake and deigned to inhabit matter, who worked out my salvation through matter," he wrote. "I will not cease from honouring that matter which works for my salvation. I venerate it, though not as God."
His threefold fame
John of Damascus is famous in three areas.
Firstly, he is known for his writings against the iconoclasts, who opposed the veneration of images. Paradoxically, it was the Eastern Christian emperor Leo who forbade the practice, and it was because John lived in Muslim territory that his enemies could not silence him.
Secondly, he is famous for his treatise, Exposition of the Orthodox Faith, a summary of the Greek Fathers (of which he became the last). It is said that this book is to Eastern schools what the Summa Theologica of Aquinas became to the West. Indeed St Thomas was influenced by him.
Thirdly, he is known as a poet, one of the two greatest of the Eastern Church, the other being Romanus the Melodist. His devotion to the Blessed Mother and his sermons on her feasts are well known. Three of his sermons deal with the bodily assumption of the Virgin Mary into heaven after her death.
Death and influence
John died in 749. He is appreciated for his quintessentially Catholic sacramental vision.
"The one who seeks God continually will find him," he wrote, "for God is in everything."
Pope Leo XIII declared him a doctor of the Church in 1890.
Liturgical Readings for: Friday, 4th December, 2020
**************** Our New Advent 2020 Feature continues today ****************
Some rather special Advent Daily Reflections by John Cullen.
They can be found below the Readings of each Advent Day.
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IRST READING
A reading from the book of the Prophet Isaiah 29:17-24
That day the eyes of the blind will see.
The Lord says this:
In a short time, a very short time,
shall not Lebanon become fertile land
and fertile land turn into forest?
The deaf, that day, will hear the words of a book
and, after shadow and darkness,
the eyes of the blind will see.
But the lowly will rejoice in the Lord even more
and the poorest exult in the Holy One of Israel;
for tyrants shall be no more, and scoffers vanish,
and all be destroyed who are disposed to do evil:
those who gossip to incriminate others,
those who try at the gate to trip the arbitrator
and get the upright man's case dismissed for groundless reasons.
Therefore the Lord speaks,
the God of the House of Jacob,
Abraham's redeemer:
No longer shall Jacob be ashamed,
no more shall his face grow pale,
for he shall see what my hands have done in his midst,
he shall hold my name holy.
They will hallow the Holy One of Jacob,
stand in awe of the God of Israel.
Erring spirits will learn wisdom
and murmurers accept instruction.
The Word of the Lord
Responsorial Psalm Ps:26
Response The Lord is my light and my help.
1 The Lord is my light and my help;
Whom shall I fear
The Lord is the stronghold of my life;
before whom shall I shrink? Response
2 There is one thing I ask of the Lord,
for this I long,
to live in the house of the Lord,
all the days of my life,
to savour the sweetness of the Lord,
to behold his temple. Response
3 I am sure I shall see the Lord's goodness
in the land of the living.
Hope in him, hold firm and take heart.
Hope in the Lord! Response
Gospel Acclamation Ps 84:8
Alleluia, alleluia!
Let us see, O Lord, your mercy and give us your saving help.
Alleluia!
Or
Alleluia, alleluia!
Behold our Lord will come with power and will enlighten the eyes of his servants.
Alleluia!
GOSPEL
A reading from the holy Gospel according to Matthew 9:27-31
Two blind men who believe in Jesus are cured.
As Jesus went on his way two blind men followed him shouting, 'Take pity on us, Son of David'. And when Jesus reached the house the blind men came up with him and he said to them, 'Do you believe I can do this?' They said, 'Sir, we do'. Then he touched their eyes saying, 'Your faith deserves it, so let this be done for you'. And their sight returned. Then Jesus sternly warned them, 'Take care that no one learns about this'. But when they had gone, they talked about him all over the countryside.The Gospel of the Lord.
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Gospel Reflection Friday First Week of Advent Matthew 9:27–31
The image of blindness and light connects all of today’s readings. In the first reading, the Lord, speaking through the prophet Isaiah declares that ‘the eyes of the blind will see’. The responsorial psalm proclaims that ‘the Lord is my light and my help’. In the gospel reading Jesus restores the sight of two blind men. Most of us have reasonable sight, even if some of us need we wear our glasses all or most of the time. Yet, even when we can see with our eyes, we are probably aware that there are areas of blindness in us as well. Like the two disciples on the road to Emmaus, we can be blind to the Lord’s presence to us, especially in times of great loss and pain. We fail to recognize him, even though he is journeying with us. We can be blind to each other too; we can fail to notice each other, to receive one another fully. Jesus received the two blind men fully; he engaged them in conversation; he showed great awareness of them. He saw them, in that attentive sense. He sees each of us in the same way. He is very aware of us; he engages us in conversation; he responds to our cry for help. He is always working in our lives to bring us towards a fuller light, towards himself, who is the Light of Life. Our calling is to grow in our capacity to see the Lord in the same attentive way that he sees us, and to see others as attentively as he sees them.
**************** Advent 2020 Daily Reflections by John Cullen ***************
Friday of the First Week of Advent
‘Do you believe I am able to do this?’ (Matthew 9:28)
In today’s gospel Jesus addresses two blind men who shout an eager prayer to Jesus begging for pity. He questions the blind men and they respond with their depth of faith. Though they could not physically see Jesus in person, they had an inner eye of the heart that gave them insight and perception despite their world of darkness.‘The Lord is my light and my help’ is the Responsorial Psalm today. Advent is a time to recognise and receive this gift.
Blind people were also beggars in the Bible and in the gospel stories. Beggars are visible everywhere in towns and cities. In some European cities they are banned by local laws from shopping areas and centres of tourist attraction. In the Book of Deuteronomy 15:4, it is written as part of the social laws that ‘there should be no poor among you’. Jesus says, ‘the poor you will have always with you’ (Mark 14: 7).
A German artist Johannes Wickert who was born in 1954 paints inspiring works of the widespread begging in the city of Aachen, Germany. It could be London, Dublin or any city in the world. His paintings confront you with a tough and stark reality as he wants to rouse people’s conscience.
Hillesum (1914–1943), a Dutch Jewish writer and a victim of the Holocaust in Auschwitz wrote in her diary: ‘Time becomes a gift when it has a receiver. When a gift is offered and it is not received.it loses its power as gift. The gift may be delivered but the door is closed. Prayer is the practice of opening the door, opening the heart to welcome these gifts’ (Diaries and Letters of Etty Hillesum: An Interrupted life).
Advent opens a door – it opens the door of our hearts as Jesus shows in the gospel story today. Saint Francis of Assisi (1181–1226) said that ‘the poor are human beings who have a deep longing to be seen, known and heard.’Election campaigns at home, across Europe and in the United States focus on the lack of housing, health issues, migrants and the poor. By playing tawdry politics with such issues, we risks anesthetising and even censuring our hearts, as well as setting the scene for a total eclipse of the values and ideals of the Gospel.
The meek shall obtain fresh joy in the Lord,
And the neediest people shall exult in the Holy One of Israel.
(Isaiah 29:19, Today’s First Reading).
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The scripture readings are taken from The Jerusalem Bible, published by Darton, Longman and Todd Ltd and used with the permission of the publishers. http://dltbooks.com/ The Gospel reflection comes from Reflections on the Weekday Readings 2020-2021: You have the Words of Eternal life: by Martin Hogan and published by Messenger Publications c/f www.messenger.ie/bookshop/ The Advent Reflections AD 2020 are by John Cullen, Parish Priest of Ahascraigh, Co Galway and Editor of Intercom Magazine and taken from his booklet, Alert, Aware, Attentive -Advent Reflections, published by Messenger Publications c/f www.messenger.ie/bookshop
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Liturgical Readings for: Friday, 4th December, 2020
CÉAD LÉACHT
Sliocht as Leabhar Fáidh Íseáia 29:17-24
An lá sin, tiocfaidh radharc i súile na ndall.
Seo mar a deir an Tiarna:Achar gairid fós, agus is gairid é,
go mbeidh an Liobáin ag tiontú ar ais ina ghairdín,
agus gairdín a áireofar ina choill ar a bhoirbe fáis.
An lá sin, beidh na focail le clos ag bodhair agus leabhar á léamh,
agus as lár an dúcháin agus an dorchadais
tiocfaidh radharc i súile na ndall.
Beidh gairdeas ar na dearóile as an Tiarna arís,
agus aoibhneas ar dhaoine bochta as Neach Naofa Iosrael,
mar ní ann don aintiarna níos mó, tá críoch le fear na fonóide,
agus tá lucht drochfhuadair á ndísciú go léir:
an dream seo a chiontaíonn duine le focal,
a chuireann gaiste i mbealach an bhreithiúin sa gheata,
a chuireann cúis chóir ó mhaith le fianaise bhréige.
Dá thairbhe sin, is mar seo a labhraíonn an Tiarna,
Dia theaghlach Iacóib,
an té a rinne Abrahám a fhuascailt:
“Ní bheidh náire ar Iacób feasta,
ní bheidh sé bán san aghaidh níos mó,
óir feicfidh sé saothar mo lámh ina láthair
agus déanfaidh sé m’ainmse a naomhú.
Beidh Neach Naofa Iacóib á naomhú,
beidh eagla roimh Dhia Iosrael.
Tiocfaidh lucht an mhearbhall intinne chun tuisceana,
agus rachaidh lucht manráin le foghlaim.”
Briathar Dé.
Salm le Freagra Sm 26
Freagra Is é an Tiarna mo sholas is mo shlánú.
1. Is é an Tiarna mo sholas is mo shlánú:
cé a chuirfidh eagla orm?
Is é an Tiarna dunaras mo bheatha:
cé a chuiríidh ar crith me? Freagra
2. Aon ní amháin a iarraim ar an Tiarna,
eilím é seo:
bheith i mo chónaí i dteach an Tiarna
fad a bheidh mé beo,
chun go mblaisfinn aoibhneas an Tiarna
agus go bhfeicfinn a theampall. Freagra
3. Creidim go bhfeicfidh mé maitheas an Tiarna
i dtír na mbeo.
Fan leis an Tiarna; bí cróga;
bíodh do chroí go tréan is fan leis an Tiarna. Freagra
Alleluia Is 45: 8
Alleluia, alleluia!
A spéartha, fearaigí anuas fíréantacht mar bheadh drúcht ann, ligeadh na néalta anuas í ina báisteach!
Osclaíodh an talamh lena gabháil agus tagadh an slánú aníos ina gheamhar!
Alleluia!
SOISCÉAL
Sliocht as an Soiscéal naofa de réir Naomh Matha 9:27-31
Leag sé a lámh ar a súile Agus osclaíodh a súile.
San am sin nuair a bhí Íosa ag imeacht leis as sin, lean beirt dhall é agus iad ag screadach amach: “Déan trócaire orainn, a Mhic Dháiví!” Agus tháinig na daill chuige nuair a chuaigh sé isteach sa teach.Dúirt sé leo: “An gcreideann sibh gur féidir liom é seo a dhéanamh?” Dúirt siad: “Creidimid, a Thiarna.” Ansin, leag sé a lámh ar a súile agus dúirt: “Bíodh agaibh de réir bhur gcreidimh.” Agus osclaíodh a súile.
Agus labhair Íosa go corraiceach leo: “Aire daoibh! ná bíodh a fhios sin ag duine ar bith.”
Ach ní túisce amuigh iad ná leath siad a cháil ar fud na tíre sin go léir.
Soiscéal Dé
AN BÍOBLA NAOFA
© An Sagart
Liturgical Readings for: Sunday, 6th December, 2020
*****************New Advent 2020 Feature beginning today******************
Some rather special Advent Daily Reflections by John Cullen.
They can be found below the Readings of each Advent Day beginning today.
________________________________
Today's Scripture Themes
St John the Baptist calls to us to straighten out our lives, to lower the mountains of pride so that God’s grace can lead us to do what he wants with us. There is no place for our selfishness and pride in St Peter’s new heaven and new earth.
FIRST READING
A reading from the prophet Isaiah 40:1-5. 9-11
Prepare a way for the Lord.
'Console my people, console them'
says your God.
'Speak to the heart of Jerusalem
and call to her that her time of service is ended,
that her sin is atoned for,
that she has received from the hand of the Lord
double punishment for all her crimes.'
A voice cries,
'Prepare in the wilderness a way for the Lord.
Make a straight highway for our God
across the desert.
Let every valley be filled in,
every mountain and hill be laid low,
let every cliff become a plain,
and the ridges a valley;
then the glory of the Lord shall be revealed
and all mankind shall see it;
for the mouth of the Lord has spoken.'
Go up on a high mountain,
joyful messenger to Zion.
Shout with a loud voice,
joyful messenger to Jerusalem.
Shout without fear, say to the towns of Judah,
'Here is your God'.
Here is the Lord
the Lord coming with power,
his arm subduing all things to him.
The prize of his victory is with him,
his trophies all go before him.
He is like a shepherd feeding his flock,
gathering lambs in his arms,
holding them against his breast
and leading to their rest the mother ewe.
The Word of the Lord.
Responsorial Psalm Ps 84
Response Let us see, O Lord, your mercy
and give us your saving help.
1. I will hear what the Lord God has to say,
a voice that speaks of peace,
peace for his people.
His help is near for those who fear himand his glory will dwell in our land. Response
2. Mercy and faithfulness have met;
justice and peace have embraced.
Faithfulness shall spring from the earth
and justice look down from heaven. Response
3. The Lord will make us prosper
and our earth shall yield its fruit.
Justice shall march before him
and peace shall follow his steps. Response
SECOND READING
A reading from the second letter of St Peter 3:8-14
We are waiting for the new heavens and new earth.
There is one thing, my friends, that you must never forget: that with the Lord, 'a day' can mean a thousand years, and a thousand years is like a day. The Lord is not being slow to carry out his promises, as anybody else might be called slow; but he is being patient with you all, wanting nobody to be lost and everybody to be brought to change his ways. The Day of the Lord will come like a thief, and then with a roar the sky will vanish, the elements will catch fire and fall apart, the earth and all that it contains will be burnt up.Since everything is coming to an end like this, you should be living holy and saintly lives while you wait and long for the Day of God to come, when the sky will dissolve in flames and the elements melt in the heat. What we are waiting for is what he promised: the new heavens and new earth, the place where righteousness will be at home. So then, my friends, while you are waiting, do your best to live lives without spot or stain so that he will find you at peace.
The Word of the Lord.
Gospel Acclamation Lk 3:4.6
Alleluia, alleluia!
Prepare a way for the Lord,
make his paths straight..
and all mankind shall see the salvation of God
Alleluia!
GOSPEL
A reading from the holy Gospel according to Mark 1:1-8
Make his paths straight.
The beginning of the Good News about Jesus Christ, the Son of God. It is written in the book of the prophet Isaiah:
Look, I am going to send my messenger before you;
he will prepare your way.
A voice cries in the wilderness:
Prepare a way for the Lord,
make his paths straight.
and so it was that John the Baptist appeared in the wilderness, proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. All Judaea and all the people of Jerusalem made their way to him, and as they were baptised by him in the river Jordan they confessed their sins. John wore a garment of camel-skin, and he lived on locusts and wild honey. In the course of his preaching he said, 'Someone is following me, someone who is more powerful than I am, and I am not fit to kneel down and undo the strap of his sandals. I have baptised you with water, but he will baptise you with the Holy Spirit.'
The Gospel of the Lord.
John Cullen's 2020 Advent Reflections
Second Sunday of Advent
‘Here is your God like a shepherd feeding his flock’ (Isaiah 40:11)
The 1971 musical, Godspell opens with God’s voice, as spoken by Jesus, declaring
‘My name is known: God and King.
I am most in majesty,
in whom no beginning may be and no end’.
In response, John the Baptist then calls the community to order by blowing a shofar, a type of bugle, which is a nice detail to acknowledge the Jewish tradition of calling people together.
The cast then sing ‘Prepare Ye the Way of the Lord’. John the Baptist gives a short sermon. Jesus asks to be baptised, explaining that ‘we too will now conform to all that God requires’. The cast sings ‘Turn Back O Man’, imploring us to change and turn back to God. This opening part of the musical reflects the readings for this second week of Advent.The 1930s and 1940s world of Frank Mc Court’s Angela’s Ashes is in a sense an Advent wilderness for one family. The personal memoir was written in 1996. In the environment of grinding poverty and squalor in a tenement slum, Angela struggles to hold her family together as financial struggles and chronic alcoholism take their grim toll on many lives.
There is no help from her extended bigoted family. The face of the Church is brutal, apart from the common-sense and sympathetic humanity of a priest who listens to the faltering words of Frank. This is well portrayed in the 1999 film version of the book. The scene of Frank praying as he kneels before the statue of Saint Francis of Assisi gives us a glimpse of hope as he faces so many anguishing experiences.
‘Console my people, console them’ are the words that ‘speak to the heart’ in today’s First Reading from Isaiah. Angela is the true image of the shepherd holding the lambs of her family close to her breast, as she quietly suffers unimaginable harshness and callous cruelty. This is the line quoted at the beginning of Mark’s Gospel today. The prophetic words of the Old Testament are the beginning of the New Testament!Who consoles you?
Who do you console?
Who shepherds you as your life ebbs and flows between desolation and consolation?
The Scripture Texts are taken from THE JERUSALEM BIBLE, published and copyright 1966, 1967 and 1968 by Darton, Longman and Todd Ltd and Doubleday, a division of Random House Inc, and used by permission of the publishers. Fr John Cullen, Parish Priest of Ahascraigh, Ballinasloe, Co Galway and Editor of Intercom Magazine, is the writer of Advent Reflections 2020 published by Messenger Publications c/f www.messenger.ie/bookshop . He is the Parish Priest of Ahascraigh, Ballinasloe, Co Galway and Editor of Intercom Magazine.
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Liturgical Readings for: Sunday, 6th December, 2020
AN DARA DOMNACH DEN AIDBHINT
CÉAD LÉACHT
Sliocht as an fáidh Íseáia 40:1-5. 9-11
Réitigí cosán le haghaidh an Tiarna.
“Sólás, beirigí sólás chuig mo mhuintir,”
a deir bhur nDia.
“Labhraigí le croí Iarúsailéim agus fógraígí di
go bhfuil aimsir a seirbhíse istigh,
go bhfuil a peaca maite,
go bhfuair sí ó láimh an Tiarna
pionós faoi dhó ina cionta go léir.”
Tá glór ag fógairt:
“Réitigí cosán san fhásach
le haghaidh an Tiarna.
Déanaigí díreach thar an machaire
bealach mór dár nDia.
Líontar isteach gach gleann,
agus íslítear gach sliabh agus gach cnoc;
déantar achréidh de na hailteanna
agus míntír den gharbhchríoch.
Ansin foilseofar glóir an Tiarna
agus feicfidh an uile fheoil í in éineacht.
Óir tá béal an Tiarna tar éis labhairt.”
Suas leat ar shliabh ard,
a challaire an dea-scéala chuig Síón.
Ardaigh do ghlór go láidir,
a challaire an dea-scéala chuig Iarúsailéim.
Ardaigh do ghlór gan eagla,
abair le bailte Iúdá:
“Seo é bhur nDia.”
Féach an Tiarna Dia ag teacht lena neart,
agus a lámh ag smachtú roimhe!
Tá a luach saothair leis ina sheilbh,
agus a éadáil ag dul roimhe amach.
Mar a dhéanfadh aoire ag aoireacht a thréada dó,
ag bailiú na n-uan chuige ina bhaclainn,
á n-iompar ar chlár a uchta
agus ag fosaíocht na gcaorach tórmaigh.
Briathar Dé.
SALM LE FREAGRA Sm 84
Freagra Taispeáin dúinn, a Thiarna, do thrócaire
agus tabhair dúinn do shlánú
I. Éistfidh mé leis an ní a déarfaidh an Tiarna Dia;
déarfaidh sé go deimhin lena phobal: 'Síocháin daoibh!'
Tá a shlánú i ngar do lucht a eaglaithe
chun go gcónóidh an ghlóir inár dtir. Freagra2. Casadh ar a chéile an trócaire is an dílseacht,
phóg an fhíréantacht is an tsíocháin a chéile.
Eascróidh an dílseacht as an talamh
agus breathnóidh an fhíréantacht anuas ó neamh. Freagra
3. Tabharfaidh an Tiarna fós an mhaith,
agus tabharfaidh an talamh a thoradh uaidh.
Rachaidh an fhíréantacht roimhe amach,
agus an tsíocháin i lorg a choiscéimeanna. Freagra
DARA LÉACHT
Sliocht as an dara litir Naomh Peadar 3:8-14
Táimid ag súil le spéartha nua agus le domhan nua
A clann ionúin, ná déanaigí dearmad den phointe seo, a chairde cléibh, gur cuma aon lá amháin leis an Tiarna nó míle bliain, agus míle bliain nó aon lá amháin. Ní dhéanann an Tiarna moill lena ghealltanas, mar a thuigtear moill do dhaoine áirithe, ach tá sé foighneach libh mar nach mian leis go gcaillfí aon dream ach go dtiocfadh cách chun aithrí. Tiocfaidh lá an Tiarna mar ghadaí, agus scriosfar na spéartha de ruathar toirní; déanfar na dúile a mhilleadh le tine, agus loscfar an domhan agus a bhfuil d’oibreacha ann.
Ó tharla go bhfuil gach ní le scriosadh ar an gcuma sin, cén sórt daoine ar cheart daoibh a bheith maidir le hiompar naofa agus le cráifeacht, agus sibh ag feitheamh le teacht lá Dé, agus á bhrostú! tríd sin déanfar na spéartha a scriosadh le tine, agus na dúile a leá le teas. Ach táimid ag súil, de réir an ghealltanais, le spéartha nua agus le domhan nua mar a lonnóidh an fhíréantacht. Dá bhrí sin, a chairde cléibh, ós rud é go bhfuil sibh ag súil leis na nithe sin, bígí go dúthrachtach le go bhfaigheadh sé sibh gan locht gan cháim, agus faoi shíocháin.
Briathar Dé.
Alleluia Lc 3:4, 6
Alleluia, alleluia!
Ullmhaigí bóthar an Tiarna,
déanaigi díreach a chosáin.
Agus feicfidh an uile cholainn shánú Dé.
Alleluia!
SOISCÉAL
Sliocht as an Soiscéal naofa de réir N. Marcas 1:1-8
Déanaigí díreach a chosáin.
Tosach Shoiscéal Íosa Críost, Mac Dé. De réir mar atá scríofa in Íseáia fáidh:“Feach, cuirim mo theachtaire romhat
a ullmhóidh do bhóthar.
Glór duine ag éamh san fhásach:
‘Réitígí bóthar an Tiarna,
déanaigí díreach a chosáin.’”
Tháinig Eoin ag baisteadh san fhásach agus ag fógairt baiste aithrí chun peacaí a
mhaitheamh. Agus bhí ag teacht amach chuige na daoine ó thír Iúdáia go léir, agus
muintir uile Iarúsailéim, agus iad ag fáil baiste uaidh in abhainn na Iordáine ag admháil a
bpeacaí.
Bhí rón camaill mar éadach ar Eoin, crios leathair faoina choim aige, lócaistí agus mil fhiáin mar bheatha aige. Agus bhíodh sé ag seanmóir á rá: “Tá ag teacht i mo dhiaidh an té atá níos treise ná mé, agus ní fiú mé cromadh síos chun iall a chuarán a scaoileadh. Bhaist mise le huisce sibh, ach baistfidh seisean sibh leis an Spiorad Naomh.”
Soiscéal Dé.
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Machtnamh ar Bhriathar Dé dia Domhnaigh
Eoin Baiste agus Gairmeacha Eaglasta
Cé a d'fhéadfadh gairm a bheith aige nó aice don seirbhís an Bhriathair inniú? Do'n sagartacht nó d'aireacht éigin eile eaglasta, i sheirbhís do Phobal Dé? Is léir go bhfuil amárach ár n’eaglaise (mar phobal creidimh a chuireann luachanna Íosa chun cinn) in amhras inniu. Ach má bhéidh go leór daoine ag oscailt a gcroí le gairm Dé, cosúil le Eoin Baiste agus na chéad aspail sin, Andrias agus Pilib agus Peadar, bhéidh bealach ann chun an domhan a choinneáil ar an eolas faoi ghrásta ár Slánaitheoir Íosa Chríost. Sa phróiseas, b'fhéidir go dtabharfaidh go leór Caitlicigh spreagadh d’ár n-easpaigí an sagartacht a oscailt do dhaoine pósta ullmhaithe, chun aghaidh a chur ar laghdú drámatúil gairmeacha do’n saol aonarach deonach (celibacy).
Pádraig Ó Rúairí, cp, Sliabh Argus, Átha Cliath.
AN BÍOBLA NAOFA
© An Sagart
