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2nd Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year C, 16 January 2022 Note: Homilies & Angelus / Regina Caeli of Pope Saint John Paul II, Pope Benedict XVI & Pope Francis I had been compiled for you after the Mass Readings below. Happy Reading! Liturgical Colour: Green.
Readings at Mass See our compilation with pictures in Encouragements-186 - 187 or EWTN, USCCB, Universalis.
First Reading: Isaiah 62:1-5 The bridegroom rejoices in his bride
About Zion I will not be silent, about Jerusalem I will not grow weary, until her integrity shines out like the dawn and her salvation flames like a torch. The nations then will see your integrity, all the kings your glory, and you will be called by a new name, one which the mouth of the Lord will confer. You are to be a crown of splendour in the hand of the Lord, a princely diadem in the hand of your God; no longer are you to be named ‘Forsaken’, nor your land ‘Abandoned’, but you shall be called ‘My Delight’ and your land ‘The Wedded’; for the Lord takes delight in you and your land will have its wedding. Like a young man marrying a virgin, so will the one who built you wed you, and as the bridegroom rejoices in his bride, so will your God rejoice in you.
Responsorial Psalm: Psalm 95(96):1-3,7-10 Proclaim the wonders of the Lord among all the peoples.
O sing a new song to the Lord, sing to the Lord all the earth. O sing to the Lord, bless his name.
Proclaim his help day by day, tell among the nations his glory and his wonders among all the peoples.
Give the Lord, you families of peoples, give the Lord glory and power; give the Lord the glory of his name.
Worship the Lord in his temple. O earth, tremble before him. Proclaim to the nations: ‘God is king.’ He will judge the peoples in fairness.
Second Reading: 1 Corinthians 12:4-11 The Spirit distributes gifts to different people just as he chooses
There is a variety of gifts but always the same Spirit; there are all sorts of service to be done, but always to the same Lord; working in all sorts of different ways in different people, it is the same God who is working in all of them. The particular way in which the Spirit is given to each person is for a good purpose. One may have the gift of preaching with wisdom given him by the Spirit; another may have the gift of preaching instruction given him by the same Spirit; and another the gift of faith given by the same Spirit; another again the gift of healing, through this one Spirit; one, the power of miracles; another, prophecy; another the gift of recognising spirits; another the gift of tongues and another the ability to interpret them. All these are the work of one and the same Spirit, who distributes different gifts to different people just as he chooses.
Gospel Acclamation 1 Samuel 3:9, John 6:68 Alleluia, alleluia! Speak, Lord, your servant is listening: you have the message of eternal life. Alleluia! Or: cf. 2 Thessalonians 2:14 Alleluia, alleluia! Through the Good News God called us to share the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ. Alleluia!
Gospel: John 2:1-11 'My hour has not come yet' - 'Do whatever he tells you'
There was a wedding at Cana in Galilee. The mother of Jesus was there, and Jesus and his disciples had also been invited. When they ran out of wine, since the wine provided for the wedding was all finished, the mother of Jesus said to him, ‘They have no wine.’ Jesus said ‘Woman, why turn to me? My hour has not come yet.’ His mother said to the servants, ‘Do whatever he tells you.’ There were six stone water jars standing there, meant for the ablutions that are customary among the Jews: each could hold twenty or thirty gallons. Jesus said to the servants, ‘Fill the jars with water’, and they filled them to the brim. ‘Draw some out now’ he told them ‘and take it to the steward.’ They did this; the steward tasted the water, and it had turned into wine. Having no idea where it came from – only the servants who had drawn the water knew – the steward called the bridegroom and said, ‘People generally serve the best wine first, and keep the cheaper sort till the guests have had plenty to drink; but you have kept the best wine till now.’
This was the first of the signs given by Jesus: it was given at Cana in Galilee. He let his glory be seen, and his disciples believed in him.
Acknowledgment: We thank the Publisher for allowing us to publish the Mass Readings to be used as reference for Homilies & Angelus / Regina Caeli of Pope Saint John Paul II, Pope Benedict XVI & Pope Francis I as a source of God’s encouragements to all of us around the World.
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Homilies, Angelus / Regina Caeli
General Audience, 16 July 2003 See our extracts with pictures in Encouragements-187. 8-)
The Mother of Christ is now repeating to us, the men and women who confidently face the new millennium, her invitation to the servants during the wedding at Cana: "Do whatever he tells you" (John 2: 5). With these words, the Virgin apparently wants to encourage us not to be afraid of the limitations and failures that can sometimes mark our experience as individuals, as families and as ecclesial and civil communities. Mary urges us not to be depressed even by sin, which undermines our confidence in ourselves and in others. What matters is that we do whatever Christ tells us, trusting in him: he will never let our ceaseless prayer go unheard.
May Our Lady's invitation, which the Gospel renews today, open us to total abandonment to Jesus. For the Mother's words are echoed by the reassuring words of her divine Son: "Lo, I am with you always, to the end of the age" (Matthew 28: 20). Pope Saint John Paul II (Angelus, 14 January 2001)
1. "Peace I leave with you". These words of Jesus from John's Gospel (cf. 14: 27) are the theme of the annual Week of Prayer for Christian Unity that begins today. It is significant that this theme was suggested by the Churches of the Middle East where unity and peace are the most acutely felt priorities.
In the coming week, Christians of the different denominations and traditions in every part of the world will gather together to pray intensely to the Lord to strengthen their common commitment to full unity. They will do so starting precisely from the rich meaning contained in Christ's promise and meditating each day on the Gospel gift of peace and the commitments it entails.
2. In promising them his peace, Christ assured the disciples of his support in trials. And is not the enduring division between Christians a painful trial? This is why they keenly feel the need to turn to their one Lord, in order that he help them overcome the temptation to despair on the gruelling journey that leads to full communion.
In a world thirsting for peace, it is indeed urgent that Christian communities proclaim the Gospel unanimously. It is indispensable that they witness to divine Love which unites them, and make themselves messengers of joy, hope and peace, becoming the leaven of a new humanity.
3. I hope with all my heart that this Week of Prayer will bring abundant fruits for the cause of Christian unity. May it be a favourable opportunity for those who believe in Christ to exchange a fraternal embrace in the peace of the Lord! May the motherly intercession of the Virgin Mary, Mother of Christ, obtain this for us. Pope Saint John Paul II (Angelus, 18 January 2004)
See our extracts with pictures in Encouragements-188. 8-)
Angelus, 14 January 2007- WORLD DAY OF MIGRANTS AND REFUGEES The annual World Day of Migrants and Refugees is being celebrated this Sunday. For the occasion, I have addressed to all people of good will and to Christian communities in particular a special Message on The Migrant Family.
We can look to the Holy Family of Nazareth, icon of all families, because it reflects the image of God cherished in the heart of every human family, even when it is weakened and at times disfigured by life's trials.
The Evangelist Matthew recounts that shortly after Jesus' birth, St Joseph was forced to flee to Egypt, taking the Child and his Mother with him, in order to escape King Herod's persecution (cf. Matthew 2: 13-15).
In the drama of the Family of Nazareth we perceive the sorrowful plight of so many migrants, especially refugees, exiles, displaced people, evacuees and the persecuted. We recognize in particular the difficulties of the migrant family: hardship, humiliation, poverty and fragility.
The phenomenon of human mobility is actually vast and diversified. According to recent calculations by the United Nations, migrants, due to financial reasons, amount today to almost 200 million, approximately 9 million are refugees and about 2 million, international students.
We must add to this large number of brothers and sisters the internally displaced and those whose situation is illegal, bearing in mind that in one way or another each one of them depends on a family. It is therefore important to protect migrants and their families with the help of specific legislative, juridical and administrative protection, and also by means of a network of services, consultation centres and structures that provide social and pastoral assistance.
I hope that a balanced management of migratory flows and of human mobility in general will soon be achieved so as to benefit the entire human family, starting with practical measures that encourage legal emigration and the reunion of families, and paying special attention to women and minors.
Indeed, the human person must always be the focal point in the vast field of international migration. Only respect for the human dignity of all migrants, on the one hand, and recognition by the migrants themselves of the values of the society that has taken them in, on the other, enable families to be properly integrated into the social, economic and political systems of the host nation.
Dear friends, the reality of migration should never be viewed solely as a problem, but also and above all as a great resource for humanity's development.
Moreover, the migrant family is in a special way a resource as long as it is respected as such; it must not suffer irreparable damage but must be able to stay united or to be reunited and carry out its mission as the cradle of life and the primary context where the human person is welcomed and educated.
Let us ask the Lord for this together, through the intercession of the Blessed Virgin Mary and St Frances Xavier Cabrini, Patroness of migrants. Pope Benedict XVI (Angelus, 14 January 2007)
This Sunday we are celebrating the World Day of Migrants and Refugees. The Church has been constantly present beside these people in time, achieving unique goals in the past century: it suffices to think of Bl. Bishop John Baptist Scalabrini and St Frances Cabrini. In my Message for the occasion I called attention to migrant and refugee minors. Jesus Christ, who as a newborn infant lived the dramatic experience of the refugee because of Herod's threats, taught his disciples to welcome children with great respect and love. Indeed, whatever the nationality and the colour of their skin, children too must be considered first and foremost and always as people, images of God, to be encouraged and protected against all marginalization and exploitation. In particular, it is necessary to take every care to ensure that minors who find themselves living in a foreign country are protected by legislation and, above all, accompanied in the innumerable problems they have to face. While I warmly encourage Christian communities and the organizations committed to serving minor migrants and refugees, I urge everyone to keep alive an educational and cultural sensitivity to them, in accordance with the authentic spirit of the Gospel.
This afternoon, almost 24 years after the Venerable John Paul II's historic Visit, I shall be going to the Great Synagogue of Rome, known as the "Tempio Maggiore" (Major Temple), to meet the Jewish Community of the city and take a further step on the journey of harmony and friendship between Catholics and Jews. In fact, in spite of the problems and difficulties, there is a climate of deep respect and dialogue among the believers of both religions that testifies to how our relations have developed and to the common commitment to recognize what unites us: faith in the one God, first of all, but also the safeguard of life and of the family, and the aspiration to social justice and peace. Pope Benedict XVI (Angelus, 17 January 2010)
Today the liturgy proposes the Gospel episode of the wedding at Cana, recounted by John, an eyewitness of the event. This episode has been allocated to this Sunday which immediately follows the Christmas season because, together with the visit of the Magi from the East and the Baptism of Jesus, it forms the trilogy of the Epiphany, in other words the manifestation of Christ. The miracle of the wedding at Cana is in fact “the first of his signs” (John 2:11), that is, the first miracle that Jesus worked with which he showed his glory in public, inspiring faith in his disciples.
Let us briefly recall the events that occurred during that wedding feast in Cana of Galilee. It happened that there was not enough wine and Mary, the Mother of Jesus, pointed this out to her Son. He answered her that his hour had not yet come; but then acquiesced to Mary’s request and, having had the six large jars filled with water, he transformed the water into wine, an excellent wine, better than the previous one. With this “sign” Jesus revealed himself as the messianic Bridegroom come to establish with his people the new and eternal covenant, in accordance with the prophets’ words: “as the bridegroom rejoices over the bride, so shall your God rejoice over you” (Isaiah 62:5). Moreover, wine is a symbol of this joy of love; but it also alludes to the blood that Jesus was to pour out at the end to seal his nuptial pact with humanity.
The Church is the Bride of Christ who makes her holy and beautiful with his grace. Nevertheless this bride formed of human beings is in constant need of purification. And one of the gravest sins that disfigure the Church’s face is that against her visible unity, the historical divisions that separated Christians and that have not yet been resolved. The annual Week of Prayer for Christian Unity is taking place in these very days, from 18 to 25 January, an event much appreciated by believers and communities, which reawakens in all the desire for, and spiritual commitment to, full communion.
Very important in this regard was the prayer vigil I celebrated about a month ago in this square with thousands of young people from all over Europe and with the ecumenical community of Taizé: a moment of grace in which we experienced the beauty of forming one in Christ. I encourage everyone to pray together so that we may achieve “what the Lord requires of us” (cf. Micah 6:6-8), as the theme of the Week this year says. The theme was suggested by several Christian communities in India, who invite the faithful as brothers and sisters in Christ, to work hard to achieve visible unity among Christians, and to overcome every type of unjust discrimination. Next Friday, at the end of these days of prayer, I shall preside at Vespers in the Basilica of St Paul Outside-the-Walls, in the presence of the Representatives of other Churches and Ecclesial Communities.
Dear friends, once again I would like to add to the prayer for Christian unity the prayer for peace. Praying that in the various wars that are, unfortunately, still raging, the despicable massacre of defenceless civilians may cease, an end be put to every form of violence and the courage be found for dialogue and negotiation. For these intentions, let us invoke the intercession of Mary Most Holy, Mediatrix of grace. Pope Benedict XVI (Angelus, 20 January 2013)
Miracles, thus, are extraordinary signs that accompany the Good News and have the purpose of causing or strengthening faith in Jesus. In the miracle performed at Cana, we are able to glimpse an act of benevolence on the part of Jesus toward the bride and groom, a sign of God’s blessing on the marriage. The love between a man and a woman is therefore a good path through which to live the Gospel, that is, to set out with joy on the path of holiness.
Yet the miracle at Cana does not pertain only to spouses. Every human person is called to encounter the Lord in his or her life. Christian faith is a gift which we receive in Baptism and which allows us to encounter God. Faith intersects times of joy and pain, of light and darkness, as in every authentic experience of love. The narrative of the wedding at Cana invites us to rediscover that Jesus does not present himself to us as a judge ready to condemn our faults, nor as a commander who imposes upon us to blindly follow his orders; he is manifest as Saviour of mankind, as brother, as our elder brother, Son of the Father: he presents himself as he who responds to the expectations and promises of joy that dwell in the heart of each one of us.
Thus we can ask ourselves: do I really know the Lord like this? Do I feel him close to me, to my life? Am I responding to him on the wavelength of that spousal love which he manifests each day to everyone, to every human being? It is about realizing that Jesus looks for us and invites us to make room in the inner reaches of our heart. In this walk of faith with him we are not left alone: we have received the gift of the Blood of Christ. The large stone jars that Jesus had filled with water in order to transform it into wine (v. 7) are a sign of the passage from the old to the new covenant: in place of the water used for the rites of purification, we have received the Blood of Jesus, poured out in a sacramental way in the Eucharist and in the bloodstained way of the Passion and of the Cross. The Sacraments, which originate from the Pascal Mystery, instil in us supernatural strength and enable us to experience the infinite mercy of God. Pope Francis I (Angelus, 17 January 2016)
Extracts: In the context of the Covenant, the symbol of wine, which is at the heart of this miracle, is fully understood. Just as the feast is culminating, the wine runs out. Our Lady notices this and says to Jesus: “They have no wine” (John 2:3). Because it would have been bad to continue the feast with water! An embarrassment for those people. Our Lady notices and, as she is a mother, she immediately turns to Jesus. The Scriptures, especially Prophets, point to wine as a typical element of the messianic banquet (Amos 9:13-14; Joel 2:24; Isaiah 25:6). Water is necessary to live but wine expresses the abundance of the banquet and the joy of the celebration. A feast without wine? I don’t know.... By transforming into wine the water from the stone jars used “for the Jewish rites of purification” (v. 6) — it was customary: to purify oneself before entering a home — Jesus effects an eloquent sign. He transforms the Law of Moses into Gospel, bearer of joy.
I would like to highlight an experience which many of us have certainly had in life. When we are in difficult situations, when problems arise that we do not know how to resolve, when we feel a lot of anxiety and distress, when we lack joy, go to Our Lady and say: “We have no wine. The wine has run out: Look at the state I am in, look at my heart, look at my soul”. Say it to the Mother. And she will go to Jesus to say: Look at this one: he or she has no wine. And then, she will come back to us and say: “Do whatever he tells you”.
For each of us, drawing from the jar is tantamount to entrusting ourselves to the Word and to the Sacraments in order to experience God’s grace in our lives. Then we too, as the steward who tasted the water that had become wine, can say: “you have kept the good wine until now” (v. 10). Jesus always surprises us. Let us speak to the Mother so that she may speak to her Son and he will surprise us. Pope Francis I (Angelus, 20 January 2019)
Daily Blessings to You from Emmanuel Goh & Friends
Note: This webpage has many hyperlinks to the Vatican Webpage. The above extracts were compiled for your easy reading. This Publication is aimed to encourage all of Goodwill around the World. It is not for business or profit purposes but it is our way to thank our Creator for His continuous blessings!
Compiled on 20 January 2019 Last updated: 15 January 2022, 07:12 SGT
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