An online Community for Prayerful Scripture Reflection.
During this time, when many of our usual ways of expressing our Faith have been removed, and we can no longer gather together due to the Coronavirus, it is all the more important that we find ways to invest in our relationships with God and each other.
Here is one small way that we can communicate our faith and support each other whilst encouraging daily prayer with a Scriptural focus. It is also a great way for people who are usually involved with Metanoia Project groups and events to keep in touch and continue to feel part of the Metanoia family as well as the wider Church community.
God wants to speak to us all and has given us His Word as a constant source of life and relationship with Him. The aim of this group is to encourage each other to spend time each day praying with Scripture and allowing God to speak to us. Please then share your thoughts, questions and reflections to help us all hear from our Loving Father.
Metanoia Project ‘The God Who Speaks’ Scripture Reflection Group
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**Gospel**
**Luke 2:22-40**
When the day came for them to be purified as laid down by the Law of Moses, the parents of Jesus took him up to Jerusalem to present him to the Lord, – observing what stands written in the Law of the Lord: *Every first-born male must be consecrated to the Lord* – and also to offer in sacrifice, in accordance with what is said in the Law of the Lord, a pair of turtledoves or two young pigeons.
Now in Jerusalem there was a man named Simeon. He was an upright and devout man; he looked forward to Israel’s comforting and the Holy Spirit rested on him. It had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he would not see death until he had set eyes on the Christ of the Lord. Prompted by the Spirit he came to the Temple and when the parents brought in the child Jesus to do for him what the Law required, he took him into his arms and blessed God; and he said:
‘Now, Master, you can let your servant go in peace,
just as you promised;
because my eyes have seen the salvation
which you have prepared for all the nations to see,
a light to enlighten the pagans
and the glory of your people Israel.’
As the child’s father and mother stood there wondering at the things that were being said about him, Simeon blessed them and said to Mary his mother, ‘You see this child: he is destined for the fall and for the rising of many in Israel, destined to be a sign that is rejected – and a sword will pierce your own soul too – so that the secret thoughts of many may be laid bare.’
There was a prophetess also, Anna the daughter of Phanuel, of the tribe of Asher. She was well on in years. Her days of girlhood over, she had been married for seven years before becoming a widow. She was now eighty-four years old and never left the Temple, serving God night and day with fasting and prayer. She came by just at that moment and began to praise God; and she spoke of the child to all who looked forward to the deliverance of Jerusalem.
When they had done everything the Law of the Lord required, they went back to Galilee, to their own town of Nazareth. Meanwhile the child grew to maturity, and he was filled with wisdom; and God’s favour was with him.
**Reflection**
Happy feast day everyone! I hope you are all having a joyful Christmas season with many blessings. Today marks the fantastic feast of the Holy Family. It is a Feast that aims to portray the Holy Family of Nazareth as the “true model of life” from which our families can draw inspiration and know where to find help, comfort and strength.
What especially strikes me in today's Gospel is the collective joy of both Simeon and Anna upon meeting Jesus. Firstly Simeon. We know he was a righteous, devout and faithful follower. It had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he would meet the Messiah. I love the way Simeon takes the child Jesus in his arms and praises God joyfully. As a parent it seems quite a bizarre andaybe uncomfortable situation seeing your child being taken from it's Mother's arms, but such is the unparalleled joy of Simeon! I pray that encountering Jesus in the Eucharist, in the Scriptures, in nature and in each other that we can be bowled over with that same joy and love.
Next there's Anna. We learn from the Gospel that she took is extremely faithful and seems to be constantly at the temple spending time with God. Her example of giving time to God is certainly one that I can learn from! She gave thanks to God upon seeing Jesus and it seems all is complete in both the lives of Simeon and Anna. In both cases, the Holy Spirit was very much at work in guiding and prompting.
Today, the Holy Spirit still continues to guide us all, especially our families. But we need to listen to the Spirit who speaks in us. If the Son of God came to live with us as a child, and only the eyes of faith can perceive His presence, how important it is to remind ourselves that He is truly alive, active and keeping us safe each day. The eyes of faith are necessary to grasp the hidden and the beyond. Everything becomes an opportunity to encounter or reject God’s presence. Everything is a sign for those who believe.
This is the Gospel of the family. But living as a Catholic family today is not so straightforward. We have to defend our faith, celebrate our faith, share our faith even when faced with opposition. On a personal level, I know many families who do not follow our Lord so maybe my family can be a great example to others with our faith and prayerful togetherness. Living the gospel of the family is not easy today. There are happy and sad, serene and difficult moments in every family. This is life. We need to use the example of the Holy Family and draw inspiration from each of them. The faithfulness of Joseph, the beautiful love and obedience of Mary and the humble newborn King Jesus. Let us kneel before them in adoration and give thanks to God.
-Jonathan ... See MoreSee Less
**Gospel**
**John 1:6-8,19-28**
A man came, sent by God.
His name was John.
He came as a witness,
as a witness to speak for the light,
so that everyone might believe through him.
He was not the light,
only a witness to speak for the light.
This is how John appeared as a witness. When the Jews sent priests and Levites from Jerusalem to ask him, ‘Who are you?’ he not only declared, but he declared quite openly, ‘I am not the Christ.’ ‘Well then,’ they asked ‘are you Elijah?’ ‘I am not’ he said. ‘Are you the Prophet?’ He answered, ‘No.’ So they said to him, ‘Who are you? We must take back an answer to those who sent us. What have you to say about yourself?’ So John said, ‘I am, as Isaiah prophesied:
a voice that cries in the wilderness:
Make a straight way for the Lord.’
Now these men had been sent by the Pharisees, and they put this further question to him, ‘Why are you baptising if you are not the Christ, and not Elijah, and not the prophet?’ John replied, ‘I baptise with water; but there stands among you – unknown to you – the one who is coming after me; and I am not fit to undo his sandal-strap.’ This happened at Bethany, on the far side of the Jordan, where John was baptising.
Reflection
Rejoice in the Lord always; again I say, rejoice. Indeed the Lord is near. Today’s entrance antiphon is very fitting for Gaudete Sunday, rejoice Sunday. We are waiting, anticipating Jesus’ arrival. But waiting doesn’t have to be arduous, our waiting can be a joyful expectant waiting. We know that God keeps His promises.
All of the readings today are full of joy. In the first reading, Isaiah says “the spirit of the lord has been given to me, for the Lord has anointed me. He has sent me to bring good news to the poor, to bind up hearts that are broken”. We are temples of the Holy Spirit, and we are called to share the good news with everyone we meet. What a privilege to bind up broken hearts and to do the work that God has, just for us.
The second reading is pretty challenging, “Be happy at all times; pray constantly; and for all things give thanks to God” I’m a pretty happy person, it is definitely one of my gifts. But to be happy all the time?? How can this be possible? Well, the truth is that this reading talks of a true happiness, that is a gift from God. It is not circumstantial, it isn’t changeable. It is constant, and reliable because it comes from God and God is reliable. The end of the second reading tells us this, “May the God of peace make you perfect and Holy” It is through God that this can be achieved, not by our own work or to our own credit. “God has called you and He will not fail you” God’s promises are true, if He calls us somewhere, He is there too. He is with us, working with us, guiding us and loving us.
“My soul rejoices in my God” says the psalm. Does your soul rejoice in God? Do we look like people who are full of the joy of the Gospel? When we receive good news, it shows in our bodies, through a bounce in a step or a smile that we can’t stop from curling our lips. If earthly good news has this effect on us, then why not the real Good News? The Good News of God, who loves us, and died to save us and is here, right now loving us and wanting to have a relationship with us. Why does this good news not make us want to skip and dance and sing and smile uncontrollably?
There was something about John the Baptist that made people come to him, it made the pharisees want to know who he was, if he was someone important. John the Baptist was sure of his mission, and he went where he was meant to be. He knew his place and he was happy there. There is a place for each of us too, a place where we will be happy, and people will want to know why we are so happy.
So, let’s pray constantly, as the second reading calls us to. Pray in everything we do, in our work and in our rest, in our joys and in our sorrows. God is in it all with us. There is no place we can go to where God won’t be with us, but let’s aim to be in the place where we are meant to be. Through prayer we can be guided and formed. Through knowing God he can speak to us and challenge us. I know that I want to be wherever God is. Wherever God has prepared for me to be is where I will find that joy. When I have that joy, I want it to be true and uncontainable. I want to tell everybody about it, and they will want to know because they too will want to have the joy that I have!
-Nora ... See MoreSee Less
**Gospel**
**Mark 1:1-8**
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.’
**Reflection**
Last week, the Gospel for the First Sunday of Advent encouraged us to “stay awake”. This Sunday, the Second Sunday of Advent, we hear the words from the prophet Isaiah which speak of a messenger, crying in the wilderness, urging us to “Prepare a way for the Lord”. The messenger is, of course, John the Baptist. It strikes me that we must stay awake if we are to hear this messenger’s words and act upon them. Let us, then, be attentive.
Similarly, to what Jen shared with us last week, the message of today’s Gospel is that we must prepare. Again, as Jen said, Advent comes from the Latin word ‘Adventus’, meaning ‘arrival’ and the Latin origins of the word ‘prepare’ mean to ‘make ready in advance’. If we combine these ideas, we can see that the liturgical season of Advent is gifted to us by the Church as an opportunity to make ready in advance for the arrival of Jesus Christ, the Son of God.
Today’s readings shed light on why we must prepare. Psalm 85 says, “…his glory will dwell in our land”. This, ultimately, is the message of Christmas. Emmanuel, God with us, is coming to dwell with us. This is the Good News that the Gospel proclaims. God is with us; the Kingdom is here. However, as the second reading refers to, there is a sense in which we are still waiting for God’s promise to be fulfilled. We are waiting for “the new heavens and new earth, the place where righteousness will be at home”. In other words, we are waiting in hopeful anticipation for the second coming of Christ and eternal life with God, where there will be justice, mercy, faithfulness, prosperity, fruitfulness and peace. This Good News, therefore, is twofold. Advent is an invitation to prepare in hopeful anticipation for the second coming of Christ, whilst looking through the lens of our preparation for Christmas, the celebration of Christ’s first coming and His dwelling amongst us.
The Gospel gives us clues about how we can prepare. It says “…that John the Baptist appeared in the wilderness, proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins.” The Church gifts us seven sacraments, two of which are the sacraments of Baptism and Reconciliation. In Baptism, we enter into Christ’s Paschal Mystery. By God’s grace we are cleansed and made into new creations through our dying and rising with Christ. In the sacrament of Reconciliation, we receive God’s mercy and forgiveness for, as the second reading says, God is patient, “wanting nobody to be lost and everybody to be brought to change his ways.” Participation in the sacraments is an excellent form of preparation because they enable us to experience God’s love and receive His grace, things which nourish our souls and give us fullness of life. Additionally, in Baptism the oil of Chrism is used to anoint us as priest, prophet and king (the three offices of Jesus’ earthly ministry). Today’s Gospel is a prompt that we can prepare through living out our baptismal calling, in particular, as prophets.
A prophet is someone who guides people to God by sharing His word with them. Like John the Baptist, we must adopt a state of humility, listen to God, be willing to go into the wilderness of our lives and proclaim the Good News. What is God calling you to do this Advent? Does He want you to spend time quietly listening to Him? Does He want you to speak on His behalf? Does He want you to practice humility? We are challenged by today’s second reading to, in our waiting, do our “best to live without spot or stain” so that he will find us at peace. To be a prophet is to point to Jesus in our words and actions. So, let’s ask God what it is He wants us to do and do our best for Him.
Being a prophet and preparing the way for Christ may cause us anxiety and difficulty at times. After all, they are things which require us to ‘put ourselves out there’ and act. Yet, there is more Good News! As John the Baptist tells us, we have been given the Holy Spirit by virtue of our Baptism. We need not be afraid because the Holy Spirit speaks on our behalf. So, as it says in the first reading:
“Go up on a high mountain, joyful messenger of Zion. Shout with a loud voice, joyful messenger in Jerusalem. Shout without fear, say to the towns of Judah, ‘Here is your God.’”
Accept God’s invitation to prepare this Advent and see what He has in store for you! Be a prophet, point to Jesus and let people know that His glory is dwelling and will dwell in our land.
-Helen ... See MoreSee Less
**Gospel**
**Mark 13:33-37**
If he comes unexpectedly, he must not find you asleep
Jesus said to his disciples: ‘Be on your guard, stay awake, because you never know when the time will come. It is like a man travelling abroad: he has gone from home, and left his servants in charge, each with his own task; and he has told the doorkeeper to stay awake. So stay awake, because you do not know when the master of the house is coming, evening, midnight, cockcrow, dawn; if he comes unexpectedly, he must not find you asleep. And what I say to you I say to all: Stay awake!’
**Reflection**
It’s a new year! Today is the first Sunday of the Church’s liturgical year and we are now in Year B. The first candle is lit on the Advent wreath, the colour is purple, and we are all off on our Advent journey. Advent is extremely short this year, so we haven’t got long until Christmas
Advent comes from the Latin word ‘Adventus’, which means coming/arrival. Christians use this word to describe the coming of an event and a person! Advent is a chance to reflect on 3 events all about one person.
The past event - Jesus was born to Mary.
The present event - we are each invited to have a relationship with Jesus, to make him the centre of our lives.
The future event - Jesus will return.
With the new year, we have moved into Mark’s Gospels, but don’t get excited by gospels full of nativity scenes, Mark doesn’t write one word about a nativity in all in his writings. On this first Sunday of Advent Mark makes it very clear to us that we must - ‘Stay awake’. Stay awake for Jesus’ second coming.
Jesus compares His coming to, ‘a man travelling abroad, he has gone home, and left his servants in charge’. Jesus is saying He has left us for a while, but He will return, and in the meantime each of us (the servants) have been given a command - ‘stay awake’! Jesus has told us he could return at any moment, and we must be ready. If the disciples waited for him so wonderfully, why don't we? We are, afterall , living in the next Book of Acts, what will we write about and share about how we waited for Jesus?
Jesus promised that when he comes again there will be no more fear or darkness and we will live with Him as one. What a glorious day this will be!
If Advent means coming, our next few weeks are meant to prepare our heart, mind and soul for the arrival of God - with - us. We are supposed to feel the wait, and if we feel the wait deeply, we each will be satisfied by the celebration.
I have to say there seems to be a buzz already about Christmas this year. I've seen people wear Christmas jumpers, heard carols play in shops, and seen houses decked in lights. I heard a lady on the radio say Christmas lights cheer her up, so she leaves them up half the year and I heard a lady in a cafe tell the waitress, after ordering a turkey roast, that, ‘Christmas makes you feel good, doesn't it’. Im inclined to agree - i love fairy lights and a turkey roast is one of my favourite meals, but it is only Advent, not Christmas. Christmas starts on the 25th of December. If we Catholics start celebrating Christmas now, who is going celebrate when it is Christmas?
At the end of every Mass, we are asked to, ‘go in peace to love and serve the Lord’, to which we each respond ‘Thanks be to God’. This surely doesn't mean, go back into the world and start celebrating Christmas during in Advent. It surely means, go and tell others of why we live our lives the way we do. We leave the church with the presence of God with us, literally carrying God out into the world. We scatter into our own lives, the temple spreads. This is majorly exciting. I love this, at the end of every Mass and i see people leave in different directions, my heart always leaps in joy with the thought of the temple spreading. The Greek word for church is Ecclesia, which means to be called forth or to be called out. As we leave Church, we are carriers of Christ’s hope and Christ’s light. We are His army as we re-enter the world. We carry God in us into our neighborhoods, workplaces, bus journeys, school playgrounds, supermarkets - everywhere.
We may feel expectancy and hope inside Church. Parishes do tend to come alive during Advent, the purple, the wreath, Christmas Mass time announcements, reader practices, flower arrangement planning, etc but it’s all preparation not celebration. Our faith, our wait, our hope, our expectancy there in the pews must be carried out so we can share the goodness of the wait with the world.
So, when the world says you need a chocolate advent calendar, yes get one, but by reading a chapter of Luke a day whilst you eat that chocolate would be a great thing to do.
So, when the world says it’s Christmas jumper day at work, wear purple and then wear your Christmas jumper on your first day back to work after Christmas day, what a perfect chance to explain why.
So, when your child school wants to do a Christmas fair, go and join the committee and suggest one in January.
So, when it’s your work’s Christmas meal offer to say grace, or at least make a visible sign of the cross, so your colleagues can see your thanks to God for what you about to eat.
There’s no doubt these things, and plenty more, will be a challenge. I’ve already failed by not speaking out in the shop queue the other day. A grandma told her toddler grandchild to stop crying otherwise Fr Christmas wouldn't come. She then smiled at me and said ‘He behaves for Fr Christmas’. I was so annoyed with myself, I love Jesus, I love talking about Jesus, I spend my days stopping and chatting and its always about Jesus, but at that moment I smiled back. As I walked away, I felt God say, ‘I’m coming, they need to know I’m coming and how ever they behave I’ll love them ‘. So, I said sorry to God for not using that moment to lead others to him and promised to try again. Who do you need to tell that Jesus is coming?
Jesus is coming so we must prepare ourselves, Advent is a perfect time to fast from something that blocks you spending time with Him. Perhaps an earlier start to sit and listen to God instead of your bed. Perhaps put down your phone every evening so social media doesn't distract. Perhaps giving up cakes and when you crave one you offer it up for a person who doesn't know Jesus.
Most importantly we must partake in the sacraments - the Eucharist feeds us for this journey, ‘if angels could be jealous of men, they would be so for one reason’ says St Maximilian Kolbe. We are all lost, we must go back to Him, Confession washes us clean. Time in front of the Blessed Sacrament will be ‘the best time you will spend on earth’ Saint Teresa of Calcutta says. Use Advent to increase your desire for living life in the sacraments.
As we wait let’s listen to God, dive deeper into how He wants this Advent to be. Seek Him.
-Jen ... See MoreSee Less