~~~SisterSea~~~

First Reading:   Isaiah 62:1-5 Responsorial Psalm: Psalm 36:5-9 Second Reading:   1 Corinthians 12: 1-11 Gospel:   John 2:1-11 Today’s readings speak to me of several related themes God’s love and justice; to acknowledge our gifts and the gifts of others; to use our gifts in the service of the Creator’s love and justice; and, of our need to remember to trust and have faith.     Like the Israelites of the first reading, the post contact history of our Indigenous sisters and brothers, includes exile from their lands.   The Idle No More movement kept coming to mind as I read the words of Isaiah, “I will not keep silent, and for Jerusalem’s sake I will not rest, until her vindication shines out like the dawn.”   Sister Eva Solomon, an Ojibwe nun from northern Ontario, says that for Aboriginal people, their traditions are their Old Testament.   The lesson for us is to remember that God’s hears the cries of the poor and that the oppress...

First Reading:   Isaiah 60:1-6 Responsorial Psalm: Psalm 72 Second Reading:   Ephesians 3:1-13 Gospel:   Matthew 2:1-12 The first reading from what Biblical scholars call, Third Isaiah, was written at a time when God has fulfilled his promise and the Israelites were released from Babylon.   They were granted permission to rebuild the temple, which they started to do… but then they got caught up in rivalry and questionable activities for personal gain.   Their crops began to fail and there was drought and thing were generally not going very well.   Today’s reading opens with the announcement of light breaking forth in darkness as an image portraying God’s saving entry into the brokenness of human bondage and suffering. Arise, shine; for your light has come! the glory of Yahweh is rising upon you! Though darkness still covers the earth, and dense clouds enshroud the peoples; upon you Yahweh now dawns, Isaiah’s words are an ...