Phatmass "Pilot Study": What Does This Reading Mean to YOU?

[Gabriela]

First, let me just say that it's an amesome blessing to finally be in a job where posting on Phatmass counts as payable work.

Second, as many of you know, I've taken a job directing a preaching initiative at a Catholic seminary. My sole responsibility is to develop resources that will help Catholic preachers. I've just finished reading the responses to a survey in which many Catholic preachers expressed challenges understanding how laypeople read and relate to biblical texts. So here's my idea: I'm going to post the Sunday readings in a thread and ask everyone who wants to to pick ONE reading and explain how it relates to their daily life, their life experience, etc. I'll do this a few times to see how it goes.

If it goes well, and if the Almighty Boss approves, I might continue such threads in the long term and use our organization's websites and social media (not yet up, so it'll be a while before this happens, but still...) to drive preachers to these threads to see what "regular laypeople" say about the upcoming week's texts. That way, we Phatmassers could do our part to help Catholic preachers prepare better homilies.

If you've got questions, quote my post, cuz otherwise I don't stop in here much these days. I miss you all, but my house is still full of boxes. 

Here's our first test thread:

January 17, 2016

 

Second Sunday in Ordinary Time

Reading 1IS 62:1-5

For Zion’s sake I will not be silent,
for Jerusalem’s sake I will not be quiet,
until her vindication shines forth like the dawn
and her victory like a burning torch.

Nations shall behold your vindication,
and all the kings your glory;
you shall be called by a new name
pronounced by the mouth of the LORD.
You shall be a glorious crown in the hand of the LORD,
a royal diadem held by your God.
No more shall people call you “Forsaken, “
or your land “Desolate, “
but you shall be called “My Delight, “
and your land “Espoused.”
For the LORD delights in you
and makes your land his spouse.
As a young man marries a virgin,
your Builder shall marry you;
and as a bridegroom rejoices in his bride
so shall your God rejoice in you.

Responsorial Psalm PS 96:1-2, 2-3, 7-8, 9-10

R. (3) Proclaim his marvelous deeds to all the nations.
Sing to the LORD a new song;
sing to the LORD, all you lands.
Sing to the LORD; bless his name.
R. Proclaim his marvelous deeds to all the nations.
Announce his salvation, day after day.
Tell his glory among the nations;
among all peoples, his wondrous deeds.
R. Proclaim his marvelous deeds to all the nations.
Give to the LORD, you families of nations,
give to the LORD glory and praise;
give to the LORD the glory due his name! 
R. Proclaim his marvelous deeds to all the nations.
Worship the LORD in holy attire.
Tremble before him, all the earth;
Say among the nations: The LORD is king.
He governs the peoples with equity.
R. Proclaim his marvelous deeds to all the nations.

Reading 21 COR 12:4-11

Brothers and sisters:
There are different kinds of spiritual gifts but the same Spirit; 
there are different forms of service but the same Lord;
there are different workings but the same God
who produces all of them in everyone.
To each individual the manifestation of the Spirit
is given for some benefit.
To one is given through the Spirit the expression of wisdom;
to another, the expression of knowledge according to the
same Spirit;
to another, faith by the same Spirit;
to another, gifts of healing by the one Spirit;
to another, mighty deeds;
to another, prophecy;
to another, discernment of spirits;
to another, varieties of tongues;
to another, interpretation of tongues.
But one and the same Spirit produces all of these,
distributing them individually to each person as he wishes.

AlleluiaCF. 2 THES 2:14

R. Alleluia, alleluia.
God has called us through the Gospel
to possess the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ.
R. Alleluia, alleluia.

GospelJN 2:1-11

There was a wedding at Cana in Galilee,
and the mother of Jesus was there.
Jesus and his disciples were also invited to the wedding.
When the wine ran short,
the mother of Jesus said to him,
“They have no wine.”
And Jesus said to her,
“Woman, how does your concern affect me?
My hour has not yet come.”
His mother said to the servers,
“Do whatever he tells you.”
Now there were six stone water jars there for Jewish ceremonial washings,
each holding twenty to thirty gallons.
Jesus told them,
“Fill the jars with water.”
So they filled them to the brim.
Then he told them,
“Draw some out now and take it to the headwaiter.”
So they took it. 
And when the headwaiter tasted the water that had become wine,
without knowing where it came from
— although the servers who had drawn the water knew —,
the headwaiter called the bridegroom and said to him,
“Everyone serves good wine first,
and then when people have drunk freely, an inferior one;
but you have kept the good wine until now.”
Jesus did this as the beginning of his signs at Cana in Galilee
and so revealed his glory,
and his disciples began to believe in him.

 

[Gabriela]

I chose Reading 2 from 1 Corinthians. It reminds me of the time I was watching X Factor UK and realized all of a sudden that I no longer envied the singers their gifts, because I wanted to be able to sing like that myself; instead, for the first time, I simply enjoyed their gifts as something I can receive from them with gratitude and joy precisely because I don't have it myself. I felt in that moment that I'd grown a lot as a Christian, but hadn't realized it until that moment.

It also reminds me of Durkheim's solidarity founded on the division of labor (which I'm reading right now). I had never thought of the gifts of the Holy Spirit as a "division of labor" before, because we typically think of that in economic terms, but Durkheim makes clear that the division of labor actually strengthens the interdependence and social solidarity of advanced societies, and I think that's precisely what the biblical text is communicating: We don't all have every gift because then we wouldn't have much need for one another. It's the distribution of gifts that holds us together in the Body of Christ.

So, for me, in sum, this text is about enjoying the gifts God gave to others as a gift to myself as well, given to me through those others, and a lesson not to envy but to lean on my brothers and sisters in community.

Edited January 13, 2016 by Gabriela

[MarysLittleFlower]

14 hours ago, Gabriela said:

First, let me just say that it's an amesome blessing to finally be in a job where posting on Phatmass counts as payable work.

Second, as many of you know, I've taken a job directing a preaching initiative at a Catholic seminary. My sole responsibility is to develop resources that will help Catholic preachers. I've just finished reading the responses to a survey in which many Catholic preachers expressed challenges understanding how laypeople read and relate to biblical texts. So here's my idea: I'm going to post the Sunday readings in a thread and ask everyone who wants to to pick ONE reading and explain how it relates to their daily life, their life experience, etc. I'll do this a few times to see how it goes.

If it goes well, and if the Almighty Boss approves, I might continue such threads in the long term and use our organization's websites and social media (not yet up, so it'll be a while before this happens, but still...) to drive preachers to these threads to see what "regular laypeople" say about the upcoming week's texts. That way, we Phatmassers could do our part to help Catholic preachers prepare better homilies.

If you've got questions, quote my post, cuz otherwise I don't stop in here much these days. I miss you all, but my house is still full of boxes. 

Here's our first test thread:

January 17, 2016

 

Second Sunday in Ordinary Time

Reading 1IS 62:1-5

For Zion’s sake I will not be silent,
for Jerusalem’s sake I will not be quiet,
until her vindication shines forth like the dawn
and her victory like a burning torch.

Nations shall behold your vindication,
and all the kings your glory;
you shall be called by a new name
pronounced by the mouth of the LORD.
You shall be a glorious crown in the hand of the LORD,
a royal diadem held by your God.
No more shall people call you “Forsaken, “
or your land “Desolate, “
but you shall be called “My Delight, “
and your land “Espoused.”
For the LORD delights in you
and makes your land his spouse.
As a young man marries a virgin,
your Builder shall marry you;
and as a bridegroom rejoices in his bride
so shall your God rejoice in you.

Responsorial Psalm PS 96:1-2, 2-3, 7-8, 9-10

R. (3) Proclaim his marvelous deeds to all the nations.
Sing to the LORD a new song;
sing to the LORD, all you lands.
Sing to the LORD; bless his name.
R. Proclaim his marvelous deeds to all the nations.
Announce his salvation, day after day.
Tell his glory among the nations;
among all peoples, his wondrous deeds.
R. Proclaim his marvelous deeds to all the nations.
Give to the LORD, you families of nations,
give to the LORD glory and praise;
give to the LORD the glory due his name! 
R. Proclaim his marvelous deeds to all the nations.
Worship the LORD in holy attire.
Tremble before him, all the earth;
Say among the nations: The LORD is king.
He governs the peoples with equity.
R. Proclaim his marvelous deeds to all the nations.

Reading 21 COR 12:4-11

Brothers and sisters:
There are different kinds of spiritual gifts but the same Spirit; 
there are different forms of service but the same Lord;
there are different workings but the same God
who produces all of them in everyone.
To each individual the manifestation of the Spirit
is given for some benefit.
To one is given through the Spirit the expression of wisdom;
to another, the expression of knowledge according to the
same Spirit;
to another, faith by the same Spirit;
to another, gifts of healing by the one Spirit;
to another, mighty deeds;
to another, prophecy;
to another, discernment of spirits;
to another, varieties of tongues;
to another, interpretation of tongues.
But one and the same Spirit produces all of these,
distributing them individually to each person as he wishes.

AlleluiaCF. 2 THES 2:14

R. Alleluia, alleluia.
God has called us through the Gospel
to possess the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ.
R. Alleluia, alleluia.

GospelJN 2:1-11

There was a wedding at Cana in Galilee,
and the mother of Jesus was there.
Jesus and his disciples were also invited to the wedding.
When the wine ran short,
the mother of Jesus said to him,
“They have no wine.”
And Jesus said to her,
“Woman, how does your concern affect me?
My hour has not yet come.”
His mother said to the servers,
“Do whatever he tells you.”
Now there were six stone water jars there for Jewish ceremonial washings,
each holding twenty to thirty gallons.
Jesus told them,
“Fill the jars with water.”
So they filled them to the brim.
Then he told them,
“Draw some out now and take it to the headwaiter.”
So they took it. 
And when the headwaiter tasted the water that had become wine,
without knowing where it came from
— although the servers who had drawn the water knew —,
the headwaiter called the bridegroom and said to him,
“Everyone serves good wine first,
and then when people have drunk freely, an inferior one;
but you have kept the good wine until now.”
Jesus did this as the beginning of his signs at Cana in Galilee
and so revealed his glory,
and his disciples began to believe in him.

 

Gabriela, to be honest I prefer homilies that just explain the texts and give a spiritual lesson on them so when I began thinking of the Gospel passage, I thought of it that way. I thought about the different interpretations I heard of this passage and how it refers to Our Lady's powerful intercession. I'd probably expect the preacher to explain the passage - for example I heard it explained why Jesus said "woman" and "the hour". For the application I tend to think of this as an example of Our Lady's love for us and her giving her Son as a Sacrifice because she knew by doing this His public ministry would begin. Then I thought about how we need to be as surrendered to God's Will as she is. I'm not sure if this is what you are looking for because all the connections I have to the passage come not from my everyday life but from what I heard about it from already existing homilies etc. Based on only my own knowledge prior to knowing anything I wouldn't be able to say much and I'd hope for an explanation of it from the preacher and then a spiritual lesson for us from it. Hope that somehow makes sense

[Gabriela]

2 hours ago, MarysLittleFlower said:

Gabriela, to be honest I prefer homilies that just explain the texts and give a spiritual lesson on them so when I began thinking of the Gospel passage, I thought of it that way. I thought about the different interpretations I heard of this passage and how it refers to Our Lady's powerful intercession. I'd probably expect the preacher to explain the passage - for example I heard it explained why Jesus said "woman" and "the hour". For the application I tend to think of this as an example of Our Lady's love for us and her giving her Son as a Sacrifice because she knew by doing this His public ministry would begin. Then I thought about how we need to be as surrendered to God's Will as she is. I'm not sure if this is what you are looking for because all the connections I have to the passage come not from my everyday life but from what I heard about it from already existing homilies etc. Based on only my own knowledge prior to knowing anything I wouldn't be able to say much and I'd hope for an explanation of it from the preacher and then a spiritual lesson for us from it. Hope that somehow makes sense

What kind of spiritual lesson would you like from him?

[Papist]

What's a Catholic preacher?

[Luigi]

This is slightly off topic from what you asked, but it's an interesting new resource for preachers, lectio divina, Bible study groups, etc. It's called Lectionary Meets Catechism. If you think it would be seen by more interested parties by moving to its own separate topic/title, I can do that, too.

"Lectionary Meets Catechism:  A Resource for Preachers and Catechists

This resource was assembled by one of the monks of our Abbey.  What he has done is to compile all the references to the Catechism found in the Sunday readings and some major feasts of the Liturgical Year.  The goal of the work is to bring the Lectionary and Catholic doctrine closer together in preaching and catechesis. That is why the project is called Lectionary Meets Catechism: A Resource for Preachers and Catechists (abbreviated LMC).  The LMC is also a rich resource for Lectio Divina and for prayer groups that use the lectionary." 

https://saintlouisbenedictines.wordpress.com/

[MarysLittleFlower]

3 hours ago, Gabriela said:

What kind of spiritual lesson would you like from him?

I guess anything that brings me closer to God and Our Lady, for example in the passage we can see that Our Lady cares and intercedes for us and also that she is an example of submission to God's Will... But I'd be interested in something that I haven't thought of one of our priests often quotes from the Saints and I really like that. The other priests homilies are really good too and there's a balance of informative and practical. 

[Peace]

The Catholic homily does leave a lot to be desired doesn't it? There are certain parishes I don't even want to take my g.f. to because she might be like "If I become Catholic I am gonna have to listen to THIS every Sunday?!"

Seriously. Some of the homilies need work. I applaud you. I will try to participate to the extent that I can. As for Reading 2 - I think it also is a good reminder to me that everyone is gifted with talents, and has areas where other people are better than they are. You can appreciate the good things in other people because those talents are gifts from God, and there is no reason to get too big-headed about your own achievements because your talents are gifts as well. But I think we can still be proud of putting effort into some things and making an achievement.

I have been going to this Church in DC a lot more lately, because the pastor gives homilies that I actually look forward to hearing. He is a pretty good speaker I think:

https://soundcloud.com/fatherpat

[Basilisa Marie]

Edit: WHOOPS you said one. That's what I get for not reading. Oh well. I'm not deleting it - I'll do better next week, if you do this again.

• I always find the exchange where Mary presents a problem, Jesus resists her implied request, and she goes ahead and gives instructions to the servants fascinating and puzzling. I don't like it when people try to come up with easy answers for it. There are so many different ways you could interpret it. At the moment, off the top of my head I think it tells us a few things about them. Mary and Jesus have such deep understanding between each other that they don't need to be obvious - Mary makes the request without making the request. She doesn't actually ask him to do anything, she just presents a problem. She also doesn't explicitly tell people what he's going to do - her response is "do whatever he tells you" leaving it totally up to Jesus what he does. It tells us that Mary doesn't strongarm Jesus into anything, she's not levering her position as a mother to force him to do her will (not only because he's God, but also because he's a grown man in first century Jewish Ancient Near East culture, it wouldn't make sense).  It also tells us that Mary totally trusts her son to do what is best. I wonder if this exchange had ever happened before, and if so, how many times? How many times does Mary present an issue and Jesus respond with "woman, my hour has not yet come"? There's no way of knowing, scripture only records this one, the one that mattered. The question still remains - if Jesus was going to do it anyway, why does he resist? Maybe he changed his mind? Maybe he had a good idea of what it would mean and was apprehensive? I think sometimes we spend too much time portraying Jesus as someone who is always perfectly in control of everything, with perfect full knowledge of everything. This can be helpful when we're imagining the divinity of Jesus Christ the King of the Universe, but it makes imagining the humanity of Jesus of Nazareth, the crucified king of the Jews more difficult. It makes me wonder if this passage might get at the very heart of the mystery of the hypostatic union. 
   
• As usual, the first reading ties in with the Gospel and the second is a tangent. I could imagine Mary as the speaker in the first reading. In the Gospel she's not silent, she petitions Christ on behalf of the wedding party, just as the speaker petitions the LORD on behalf of the people of Zion. No longer is Zion foresaken, because her bridegroom has arrived - a fitting prophesy for the beginning of Christ's public ministry. 
   
• The second reading gives us a totally different take. There are many gifts, but one spirit. Why in the world would this be attached to these other two readings? I think it might have to do with the beginning of Christ's public ministry. Each of us is called to discipleship through out baptism. We all have ways we are called to minister to others. Our different gifts are the many ways we are called to imitate Christ. The second reading urges us to consider our own gifts, and examine how we live out our own "public ministry." 

Edited January 13, 2016 by Basilisa Marie

[AveMariaPurissima]

Off the top of my head....the first reading from Isaiah reminds me of a time I was doing Lectio Divina with this reading a few years ago, and I was just so struck with awe and gratitude to think that God delights in me!  So this reading is special to me because it reminds me of that moment.

[dominicansoul]

On ‎1‎/‎13‎/‎2016‎ ‎11‎:‎15‎:‎08‎, Papist said:

What's a Catholic preacher?

 

[vee]

haha ds, I was going to post the same pic of the friars yesterday but took a nap instead.

[dominicansoul]

OP vibez

[vee]

if I want a  good homily I listen to EWTN's because it is hit and miss at my current parish.  The main thing for me is to be able to participate in the Liturgy of the Eucharist and receive the body blood soul and divinity of Jesus, thats it.  Ive attended parishes and Masses that werent even in English, let alone the homily but He is there and thats what matters to me.

[dominicansoul]

Just now, vee said:

if I want a  good homily I listen to EWTN's because it is hit and miss at my current parish.  The main thing for me is to be able to participate in the Liturgy of the Eucharist and receive the body blood soul and divinity of Jesus, thats it.  Ive attended parishes and Masses that werent even in English, let alone the homily but He is there and thats what matters to me.

This is true, but at the same time, imagine how many more people will be motivated if they would hear good homilies?  My parish received a new pastor who is extremely well spoken and boy he can PREACH IT!  Our Saturday evening Vigil Mass went from about 17 people to over 200 in less than a month (people talk, word spread that we had a great priest!)  Of course, Christ in the Eucharist is everything, but what if you don't even know He's there?? Sadly, this is the case for many Catholics who don't know their Faith.  This is why we need good homilies...